Revolutionary changes facing medicine focus of CMA's 1996 leadership conference

Jill Rafuse

Canadian Medical Association Journal 1996; 154: 245

Jill Rafuse is associate editor in CMAJ's news and features section.

Do you feel that revolutionary changes to the health care system are threatening your perspective on major issues such as patient care, quality of life and manageable caseloads, and maybe even personal productivity and professional satisfaction?

The CMA is attempting to recognize the growing pressures facing physicians by using its 8th Annual Leadership Conference, to be held in Ottawa's Westin Hotel Mar. 1-2, to teach physicians how to thrive, manage and lead in an age of constant change.

The conference, Regaining the perspective on values: physicians surviving and thriving in times of change, is expected to bring together more than 300 physician and health care leaders from across Canada, as well as management experts specializing in stress and change and nonmedical leaders who have risen above adversity and upheaval within their own professions.

Conference chair Dr. Margaret Kirwan of Grande Prairie, Alta., a past president of the Alberta Medical Association and member of the CMA Board of Directors, hopes the conference will provide inspiration to physicians by introducing them to speakers who already have a great deal of experience coping with or teaching about change.

The opening keynote speaker will be Dr. Jennifer James, a cultural anthropologist from Washington, DC, who specializes in cultural change, diversity, management and marketing. Her address, which will kick off the Mar. 1 session, will examine the dynamics of change. She will also offer comments following a physicians' panel discussion on stressors affecting the medical profession. That is expected to offer a frank exploration of the stresses that physicians think undermine their effectiveness as health care providers, and the changes that are needed to restore balance and perspective.

Roger Mellott, an internationally known author, presenter and trainer who specializes in stress management for professionals and executives, will speak on the psychologic issues people face when they have to manage stress and deal with change. This will segue into an interactive session in which facilitators will work with small groups of participants to identify personal stresses, then explore solutions and strategies.

On Mar. 2, CMA board member Dr. Henry Haddad of Sherbrooke, Que., will moderate a panel discussion on dealing with change in the mid-1990s.

Organizers have created a broad-based panel whose members will share personal experiences:

Brigadier-General Keith Penney, who is at the centre of the reorganization within the Department of National Defence. The department has faced immense pressures; between 1985 and 2000, it will have dealt with a personnel reduction of about 30%.
Phil Fontaine, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs who is currently involved in complex negotiations with Ottawa over self-government for Indian bands. A Manitoba newspaper calls the negotiations "daring and risky."
Faye Larsen, Calgary, who will talk about the stress of balancing family responsibilities, professional commitments and life as both physician spouse and mother; and
Marion Dewar, former mayor of Ottawa, past member of Parliament and former chair of the Ottawa-Carleton Police Services Board, who will recount her experiences balancing public life and family life.

Following the panel and discussion period, former Olympic track coach Andy Higgins, who is now a motivational strategist, will explore how physician leaders can motivate and lead others to achieve excellence in the face of constant change. Following this plenary session, "Helping others deal with change", participants will rejoin small groups to focus on leadership and coaching strategies that can be used in the health care field.

The facilitated focus groups resume after lunch, and then the closing keynote speaker will attempt to put medicine's changing times in perspective. Frank Graves, president and founder of EKOS Research Associates Inc., will examine the core values and priorities that the public has for health care in Canada, contrasting them with positions being taken in policy development.

For more information or to register for the conference, contact the CMA Meetings and Travel Department, PO Box 8650, Ottawa ON K1G 0G8; 800 663-7336; 613 731-8047 (fax).

| CMAJ January 15, 1996 (vol 154, no 2) | CMA-sponsored conferences |