Volume 1 Number 2 In This Issue

Opinion: The condition of the Canadian health care system does not have to be discouraging

Johny Van Aerde, MD, PhD

“Society is reaching a turning point, where current mindsets and approaches no longer meet the challenges. The same can be said for our Canadian health care system. The older models of systems thinking and change no longer work in an overconnected world where systems become increasingly integrated with other systems.  read article

Opinion: Challenges and opportunities to ensure effective physician leadership in Canada

Dennis Kendel, MD

Several thousand Canadian physicians serve in formal leadership roles. Medical leadership positions may be full or part time. They may be based in health authorities, hospitals, medical schools, medical regulatory and advocacy organizations, cancer agencies, health ministries, or community-based health service programs. The titles attached to these positions may be CEO, chief of staff, senior medical officer, VP medicine, medical or academic department head, dean, college registrar, public health officer, or medical director.  read article

Closing the gap: a Canadian health leadership action plan

Kelly Grimes, MHSc and

Gillian Kernaghan, MD

Strong leadership, including high-quality physician leadership, is a critical factor in the performance and success of our health care system. The time has come for a collective approach to increasing Canada’s leadership capacity and capabilities, one that is linked to policy imperatives, such as “Triple AIM” (better care, better health, and better costs) and patient experiences and outcomes. Such an approach requires a national health leadership action plan that can form a foundation for an evidence-informed conversation among Canada’s health care leaders. read article

Career transition: planning for your third act

Chris Carruthers, MD and

Mamta Gautam, MD, MBA, FRCPC, CCPE, CPDC

Although physicians have always worked longer in their careers than other professionals, the increase in longevity means even they must plan for retirement. In this article, we explore the challenges for physicians who seek a career transition in the later years of their medical careers and discuss the timing of this as well as how to replace work with other meaningful activities and maintain social connections. We also offer tips for successful retirement, including the need to plan ahead, prepare financially, and explore hobbies and activities in advance.

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The importance of physician–hospital relations in the Canadian health care system

by Atefeh Samadi-niya, MD, DHA(PhD), CCRP

Studies have shown that physician–hospital relations are among the most important concerns of hospital leaders and paying attention to this issue is urgent if health care decision-makers plan to improve the quality of patient care and reduce health care costs. Industrialized countries have been focusing on improving the quality of relations between medicine and management, but in Canada no national detailed study has addressed such interprofessional relations. Physician–hospital relations have a tremendous effect on quality of patient care, and good hospital relations are crucial to the professional lives of physicians. This article explores the role of physician–hospital relations and the need for Canadian data in this area.

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Facilitation skills for physician leaders — an emerging necessity in a complex health system

Mary Yates MEd and

Monica Olsen MHRD

Facilitative leaders ask questions, collaborate, share, consult, and focus on the process of decision-making. This style is replacing the earlier directive or autocratic approach, and physician leaders are eager to acquire the skills needed to be a facilitative leader. In this first of a series of articles, we describe the facilitative approach and how it relates to quality improvement, leads to healthy dialogue, and transforms the culture of organizations. read article

Salybia Mission Project: a student initiative creates a living legacy

Sylvia F. Marcos, MD, DABIM, FRCPC

After visiting a rural clinic in the remote Kalinago Territory on the island of Dominica, a group of medical students envisioned an organization that would improve the delivery of health care services to the last remaining indigenous population of the Caribbean. In March 2002, they initiated the Salybia Mission Project. Since its inception, the project has continuously staffed and supplied the clinic in the Kalinago Territory. It couples the need for health care services with stipended clinicians and aspiring medical physician volunteers from the neighbouring Ross University School of Medicine. It also participates in cultural and educational initiatives, as it believes that a community’s health needs extend beyond the clinic’s walls. Because of its vision and spirit of collaboration, Salybia Mission Project has become a nationally recognized non-profit organization and continues to play an integral role in the clinical education of students as well as the community it serves.

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BOOK REVIEW

The Path to Health Care Reform: Policy and Politics

André Picard

Conference Board of Canada, 2013

Reviewed by Johny Van Aerde read review

BOOK REVIEW

Paradigm Freeze: Why It Is So Hard to Reform Health-Care Policy in Canada

Edited by H. Lazar, J.N. Lavis, P.G. Forest, and J. Church

McGill–Queen’s University Press, 2014

Reviewed by Johny Van Aerde read review