Today marks the end of the first full month where all of our operations have been proceeding differently as we’ve seen Ontario through the peak of this first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s been a difficult time, and I want to thank everyone here in the department for the resilience they’ve shown in rising to the challenges this has posed.
Tomorrow, May 1, is National Physicians’ Day, an event I must confess I did not pay much attention to in the past. This year, the pandemic has me reflecting on the importance of the core values, and the value of our family physicians to our health-care system and fellow citizens. I’ve been incredibly proud and humbled to see so many family physicians stepping up to contribute. Caring, compassionate, and committed (a different sort of “Triple C”?) colleagues are staffing COVID assessment centres, supporting our long-term care and retirement homes, keeping our hospitals and ERs open for service, and providing outreach to vulnerable populations.
At the planning and policy tables I’ve been privileged to participate in, the expertise and high value of comprehensive, highly skilled family physicians — who can function across many settings for patients of all ages with multiple different medical needs — is evident. As family physicians, we are able to redeploy and pivot to meet the shifting demands of a system under stress in a way that cannot be matched by physicians with a more limited or focused scope of practice.
This experience confirms for me just how important it is that we ensure our training programs are producing graduates who are able to fulfil the mandate outlined in the CFPC’s Family Medicine Professional Profile.
It is essential now and for future generations of Canadians that we continue our ongoing efforts through initiatives like the CFPC’s Outcomes of Training project to ensure that if we are faced with a similar challenge in future decades, we will find ourselves then, as now, with a health-care system supported by a strong complement of comprehensive family physicians who are ready and able to respond.
In our 2019-2024 strategic plan, we identified this as Objective 1 (“Champion Comprehensive Teaching”) in our first priority area, and this experience has made it clear to me that this is exactly where it needs to remain.
Thanks to all of you for your contributions to our outstanding training programs that have never relinquished this goal, and to all those who are innovating to keep it that way!
Finally, I want to acknowledge that this period can be stressful, and we are missing the in-person support of our friends and colleagues. Please don’t hesitate to reach out for support with your personal health or wellness. We’re here for you if you need us.
Until next month, stay safe and stay well!
Dr. Michael Green