“ We continued our conscious and deliberate effort to view our work as a regulator through an equity lens .”
President ’ s Message
Welcome to the 2022 CPSO Annual Report
In my messages to the profession throughout 2022 , the issue of physician burnout and moral injury were very much at the fore . Clinician distress is not an issue we could look away from . Findings from CMA ’ s National Physician Health Survey , released in August , gave a sense of the issue ’ s scope . The results show a physician workforce struggling under the weight of an under-resourced health system . More than half of physicians and medical learners report experiencing high levels of burnout , with 49 percent of respondents reporting they are considering reducing their clinical work in the next 24 months .
When the Minister of Health , Sylvia Jones , asked us in August 2022 to expeditiously register out-of-province and internationally educated physicians to provide relief to a health system in crisis , we were well situated to respond . The pandemic , in fact , had compelled us to determine where opportunity lay in the current legislation to register physicians in an expedient manner . When the directive came in , we had a particularly good sense of where meaningful change could be quickly realized . In her message , Dr . Nancy Whitmore , College Registrar / CEO , discusses our registration strategies .
We also did significant work in the development of our policies . We continued our conscious and deliberate effort to view our work as a regulator through an equity lens . For example , our Human Rights in the Provision of Health Services draft policy elaborated on how physicians can create and foster a safe , inclusive , and accessible environment , in which the rights , autonomy , dignity and diversity of all patients are respected , and patients ’ needs are met . The draft policy expects physicians will create and foster this environment by taking reasonable steps to incorporate cultural humility , cultural safety , anti-racism , and anti-oppression into their practices . We wanted to ensure these concepts were included in this draft policy because we know from research that patients from racialized or marginalized groups are more likely to have difficulties accessing care and experience poorer health outcomes . Look for this policy to come before Council for consideration of approval in 2023 .
We also approved two policies relevant to the times in which we live and work – Virtual Care and professionalism on Social Media . If you spend any time on social media , it is likely you will have encountered health misinformation . Unfortunately , in some cases , it has been physicians who have been making these misleading claims . Physicians who promote narratives unsupported by evidence create doubt and confusion , making it harder for public health messages to break through the noise . CPSO has sent a clear message that such behaviour is not appropriate . In fact , we have investigated a number of physicians after receiving complaints about their dissemination of misinformation . In some cases , they were disciplined . Taking decisive action in such instances speaks to our mandate to serve the public interest .
I ’ m proud of what was accomplished in 2022 . While much of it was difficult , all of it was important . I invite you to read more in our annual report .
Dr . Janet van Vlymen , 2022 CPSO President
CPSO ANNUAL REPORT 2022 4