MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Colleagues
R
Carol Leet, MD
College President
photo: D.W. Dorken
photo: D.W. Dorken
I hope they left
with the strong sense
of the dynamic,
evolving nature of
medical regulation
and how we strive
to be proactive.
ecently, I participated in an
event that we hold regularly
at the College called Future
Leaders’ Day. It is intended to provide doctors with an up close look
at the workings of medical regulation and introduce and engage them
about the opportunities available for
their participation.
I was deeply impressed by the
calibre of physicians who took part
in this event. They were smart,
enthusiastic and clearly committed
to the well-being of their patients
and the health of their communities. In return, I hope they left the
day with the strong sense of the
dynamic, evolving nature of medical
regulation and how we strive to be
proactive.
When I wrote my first letter to
the profession in this magazine a
year ago, I noted that medical regulation was at an interesting stage in
its evolution. A number of significant changes were already underway
at that time – some of them uncomfortable, many of them controversial
– but all of them with our mandate
of public protection fully in focus.
A year later, the fast pace of
change continues, as does our
dedication to furthering the public
interest. During the past 12 months,
we have developed an array of proposed amendments to our governing
legislation that are designed to better
protect patients from physician
sexual abuse, and to better support
patients who have been abused. We
have made more information – both
about our own processes and about
individual physicians – available to
the public through our Transparency
Initiative. We have provided advice
to Health Quality Ontario on the
future of regulation of clinics outside
of hospitals, and we have contributed to the work of the Hon. Stephen
Goudge to ensure the processes to
deal with complaints about physicians are better streamlined, which
will permit decisions to be made
more efficiently and cost-effectively.
Most recently, we have begun
developing interim guidance to the
profession in the event that there is
no legislation or framework in place
to guide Ontario physicians when
the Carter decision about physicianassisted death is scheduled to come
into effect in early February.
It has been an exhilarating, nervewracking, engaging 12 months and
Issue 4, 2015 Dialogue
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2015-12-16 9:35 AM