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Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine
../../../ 1998

President's message: building bridges —
don't let them crumble!

Patricia Vann, MD
Dryden, Ont.
President, Society of Rural Physicians of Canada

CJRM 1999;4(1):7

© 1999 Society of Rural Physicians of Canada


The Executive of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC) and its regional and working committees continue to build bridges with political, medical and educational organizations.

Liaisons with Health Canada continue to improve with the appointment of Dr. John Wootton as Executive Director of Rural Health. We applaud his appointment by Health Canada and offer him our sincere congratulations. His job was created after the SRPC briefed the federal government on rural health issues last fall. We suggested the position to them and helped to write the job description. Dr. Wootton will help strengthen our connections with Health Canada and will definitely provide that "rural lens" needed in Ottawa.

In September 1998 the SRPC organized a meeting in Whitehorse to discuss forming a committee to advise the new Executive Director of Rural Health on how to improve access to health care in rural and remote areas. Representatives of the Association of Medical Colleges of Canada, the Federation of Medical Licensing Authorities of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and other interested parties attended. The committee is now a reality.

The newly formed Rural and Remote Practice Issue Advisory Group of the CMA held its first meeting in August 1998. Neil Leslie, SRPC representative, was elected chair. The committee includes rural physicians from many areas of Canada as well as representatives from Canadian Association of Internes & Residents, the faculties of medicine and the medical school residency programs across Canada. Issues of priority were identified: a nationally accepted definition of rural, development of a national on-line recruitment service for rural areas, more rural preceptors in the medical school system and further exploration and development of the issues concerning frequency of call, as presented initially in the SRPC discussion paper (see Can J Rural Med 1998;3[3]:139-41 [full text / résumé]).

The fall council meeting of the SRPC was held in Saskatoon in conjunction with the 4th International Conference on Rural Health and Safety in a Changing World, which was sponsored by the Centre for Agricultural Medicine. The conference gave SRPC representatives an opportunity to discuss common issues with representatives from 22 countries.

Our working group on advanced skills continues to develop position papers on anesthesia, general surgery and maternity care training for rural physicians, which should be ready this spring. They are building bridges between rural medicine and the various specialist groups involved in teaching these skill sets, as well as with the CFPC.

All these bridges, being built on YOUR behalf, need to be maintained and strengthened. Unless our membership continues to increase, these bridges will crumble. Help us strengthen them by joining the SRPC today (see membership form on the carrier card insert).