History of the Canadian Medical Association, 195494
CMAJ 1997;157:943
© Canadian Medical Association
See also:
John Sutton Bennett. 388 pp. Illust. Canadian Medical Association, Ottawa. 1996. $34.95 ($29.95 CMA members). ISBN 0-920169-83-X
[ How to order this book ]
| Overall rating: |
Excellent. Important for the CMAJ audience |
| Strengths: |
Review of dramatic events in Canadian health care and the profession's place in the discussions |
| Weaknesses: |
Lacks a smooth "story" because author chose to present different aspects of the CMA separately |
| Audience: |
All Canadian physicians |
Bennett records the growth and change in the CMA, the people involved, efforts on behalf of the profession and patients, and the CMA's movement into new fields. This is the view of events by the CMA, effectively put forward and documented.
Historians of institutions have to make decisions. Will it be a record of the organization as an organism, devoid of human presence? Or will it be a record of the people involved? Recently I had the task of surveying a large collection of dated institutional histories, most of it dismal, self-serving, formal puffery; therefore I was hesitant to review the CMA's book. However, I did agree, and was pleasantly surprised.
Bennett's story of the CMA's activities during the development of the health care system should interest any Canadian physician. However, his coverage of the savings plans and councils, although a necessary chronicle for the organization, is rather plodding and of less general interest to membership.
Any physician who lived through the last few decades of change in the Canadian health care system will find the section on health care insurance of interest. It chronicles the era of greatest change in the last century and outlines the CMA's role in the organization of Canada's health care system up to recent events in international medicine and ethical challenges such as physician-assisted suicide. One gets a sense of the increasing pace of activity and change from the time just before hospitals insurance came in during the '50s to the multiciplicity of activities that characterizes the CMA today.
Bennett covers the CMA's interaction with governments and the public as the health care system took shape, sometimes with the assistance and sometimes with the resistance of organized medicine. Some might argue that most major social movements in medicine have been resisted by the profession, but the profession can argue that it has been their stance and responsibility to see that any change should be optimal, and not hamper good patient care nor the autonomy and strength of the medical profession. This book gives the view of the profession. Others might see the events quite differently, reflecting on the self interest of the profession and its resistance to change. The truth lies somewhere between.
Bennett does not try to editorialize. He uses CMA sources for the record of what happened and for official comments. As a veteran with the CMA for almost 3 decades, and having served as the CMA's first Associate Secretary General, Bennett was a first-hand observer of most of the events covered in this book.
Each section is self-contained and gets almost equal treatment. Although this prevents the history from being a coherent whole, it does allow the browser to select an area of interest, whether it be the CMA buildings, the structure, debates over health care insurance, or investment programs. There are a few minor errors but none of any import. I was interested to note that the Osler Orations at the CMA meetings ended in 1966, but since I remembered giving it in 1987, I plowed through old papers to see if I dreamed this -- it wasn't a dream.
Any organization has a responsibility to document its history, and Bennett's book is an important effort. This review of the last 40 years could also serve as an introduction to the CMA for any physician who becomes involved with the organization through its committees and councils.
T. John Murray, MD
Clinical Research Centre
Dalhousie University
Halifax, NS
 |
Send a letter to the editor responding to this article
Envoyez une lettre à la rédaction au sujet de cet article |
Books and other media