STANDARD OF CARE WORKING GROUP
VOICES IN
INSIGHT TO THE COLLEGE GAINED FROM EXPERIENCE ON STANDARD OF CARE WORKING GROUP
Dr . Hans Christoffersen is the owner and manager of the Animal Care Clinic , in Brampton and he has experience in many areas of companion animal medicine . Dr . Christoffersen participated on the College ’ s Standard of Care Working Group . The working group ’ s recommendations were forwarded for Council ’ s consideration in March . Dr . Christoffersen reflected on his involvement in the working group in an interview with the College .
What prompted you to volunteer ?
My history with the College has not been as positive as I would have liked . I had an issue with the College last year and wasn ’ t happy with the resolution . Someone advised me to reach out to Jan Robinson , College Registrar and Chief Executive Officer . I had heard good things about her so we had a Zoom meeting . It was very productive and she opened my eyes to how the College is run . Jan contacted me a few months later about the standard of care working group and asked if I was interested . That ’ s how I came to be in the group .
I find a lot of veterinarians of my generation don ’ t have a positive outlook of the College . Jan gave me the opportunity to come at it from the inside , I would rather be collaborative , so I thought let ’ s give this a try .
What surprised you about the College and your role on the working group ?
What surprised me most was that although I have had issues with the College in the past , it ’ s pretty clear the College is trying to meet the needs of veterinarians . With veterinarians being self-regulated professionals , I think it ’ s important that we all get along and try to help each other .
I am surprised how smoothly the working group went . In the beginning , the ask was large and nebulous and for the first few meetings progress was hard to measure . By the end , I was satisfied with the solutions the working group came up with and the College ’ s commitment to carry through with them .
What do you think is a key benefit in contributing to the work of the College ?
As veterinarians , we ’ re self-regulated so if we don ’ t get involved with the College , then we ’ re being regulated by an entity that we don ’ t understand . If the College is going to regulate us , we should have some say and we should be part of that process . It behoeves us to get involved .
A benefit for the public is it gives them a forum to raise complaints outside of the regular court system . As much as veterinarians are terrified of getting a complaint , I think a lawsuit would be far worse . I think the move toward more mediation and that kind of thing is beneficial for everybody .
From your perspective , how does the working group benefit Council ?
We were tasked with standard of care and standard of practice and making them less ambiguous . It really opened my eyes as to what the College does and doesn ’ t do . The mandate grew to helping veterinarians understand processes within the College , not just the standard of practice . As an example , in the past when a veterinarian got a complaint , it felt like they were navigating through the process on their own . My suggestion was that we offer support to that veterinarian by saying this is what they can expect through the process . We also went into how we can help new grads integrate into practice and also discussed components of mental health issues among veterinarians , which is such a big issue . I think there are far too many mental health issues among
Dr . Hans Christoffersen
veterinarians . The suicide rate being six times the general population - it ’ s unacceptable . It ’ s encouraging to see this issue is being taken seriously . A lot of benefit can come out of this , assuming we can drive implementation .
What have you learned about professionbased regulation through the group ?
As a veterinarian , I ’ ve seen the College as an all-encompassing overlord that dictates what we can and can ’ t do . I was surprised when the working group would suggest something and we would be told the Veterinarians Act doesn ’ t permit that change . As a veterinarian , I feel bound by the College , but in turn the College is bound by the Veterinarians Act . The College has less flexibility than I thought .
Additional thoughts
I ’ m very happy I did this . I ’ m optimistic about the direction the College is heading and I ’ m happy to collaborate with the College again and I hope I do . I also feel the relationship I have with the College is more collaborative than in the past .
4 College Connection Spring 2022 cvo . org