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PRESIDENT’S NOTE
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Engaging physicians is crucial for a high-functioning
health care system that will meet the current and
emerging needs of the people of Saskatchewan.
computers. We are still working on
bringing many of our printable forms
online, which will make it easier for
you to access SMA programs.
All of these changes will ensure that
physicians have the foundation to
voice their opinions and shape the
health care system to benefit their
patients. Engaging physicians is crucial for a high-functioning health
care system that will meet the current and emerging needs of the people of Saskatchewan.
The physician engagement survey
conducted last year showed that the
current picture is not good. Only 36
per cent of physicians feel engaged
in their regions. The survey also indicated that only 28 per cent of physicians feel their region or agency is
considered one of the best places to
practise medicine for someone with
their skills and experience. Additionally, only 23 per cent of physicians
believe their health and well-being is
strongly supported by their region or
agency.
These numbers clearly show there
is a problem in involving and listening to physicians, both at a regional
level and provincially. At the Board
of Directors table, we often talk
about what it takes to achieve au-
thentic engagement. Authentic engagement, in the case of physicians,
means building relationships with
individual physicians and continually seeking our opinions and learning from our experiences. Authentic
engagement means putting a similar
amount of time and resources into
communicating with physicians after
they start working in a health region
as was devoted to recruiting them to
the region.
Engaging physicians will soon become a matter of retention. Physicians will not stay in a place where
they are dictated to and are not able
to deliver optimal care to their patients. Physicians will not stay if they
are not part of a true team of health
care professionals, one where they
are involved in all aspects of patient
care.
need for a fulfilling practice and to
improve the outcomes of your patients. Please let us know how we are
doing and what issues you are facing in your practice that we can assist you with. Contact me directly at
[email protected].
Sincerely,
Dr. Dalibor Slavik
SMA President
[email protected]
The SMA has reached out to the Ministry of Health to offer our support in
engaging physicians. We know more
needs to be done to involve physicians in important initiatives and decisions and we will continue to voice
that message to the Ministry and
health authorities.
Over the next year, the SMA will be
working hard on behalf of our members to make sure you have what you
SMA DIGEST | WINTER 2015
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