All aboard!

Cal Gutkin

The ultimate authority in our College’s governance structure is the National Board of Directors. It is a large Board, with 40 voting Directors who must act as both decision makers on behalf of all our members and as representatives of the jurisdictions that elected or appointed them. Some organizations have smaller boards with directors who carry no jurisdictional responsibilities. But such organizations often also have a separate representative body, like a council, which serves as the forum and voice for specific groups.

The members of each of our provincial Chapters elect 2 or 3 National Board Directors at Chapter annual general meetings. As well, the chairs of our College’s 5 sections and the Committee of Chairs of Canada’s Departments of Family Medicine serve as Board Directors. The Board is completed by the College’s Executive Committee and 3 public members, all of whom are elected by the members at the National College’s annual general meeting during Family Medicine Forum. The Board meets face to face twice a year and deals with issues between meetings through electronic communications.

As a sample of the Board’s deliberations, the following were some of the items discussed at a recent meeting:

a policy to ensure that the National College and Chapters have appropriate contractual arrangements with their executive directors or administrative directors, as well as protocols for planned and emergency succession of those in these positions;
the recent College leaders’ meetings with Members of Parliament in Ottawa and a review of the College’s federal election information website;
a position statement on physician assistants;
the Patient’s Medical Home initiative, including the feedback received from the 2009 discussion paper (the final vision paper will be released in the coming months and will include Board-approved positions on patient-centred practice, family doctor resources, the roles of family physicians and teams, electronic records, timely appointments, referrals and consultations, family physician teaching and research commitments, and the system supports needed to sustain the best possible family practice in every community—remote, rural, and urban);
the Triple-C Competency-based Curriculum, to establish family medicine residency training across Canada that is comprehensive, focused on continuity of care and education, and centred in family medicine;
the expanding role of the Section of Teachers Council, with several added groups of residency program directors and coordinators reporting to it;
membership in the Section of Teachers and the Section of Researchers will now be available to all College members at no added cost;
approval of the applications for several programs in the new Section for Family Physicians with Special Interests or Focused Practices (to be approved a program must commit to prioritizing its efforts on educating and supporting family physicians who include the area of interest as part of a comprehensive scope of practice);
approval of a College statement on palliative care;
College membership report indicating that we now have more than 25 000 members;
approved requirement for members to submit all Mainpro credits electronically beginning in 2013;
consideration of a requirement for members to submit a minimum number of Mainpro credits each year as part of each 5-year cycle (which is currently required by the Royal College and by many sister family medicine organizations internationally, as well as by the revalidation programs of several provincial or territorial medical regulatory authorities);
reports from our Section of Medical Students and Section of Residents, outlining important activities at Canada’s medical schools, where the number of students selecting family medicine careers continues to increase each year;
report of the Task Force on the College’s relationship with the pharmaceutical industry;
report on the Certification Examination—this year the number of examination sites across Canada was increased from 12 to 18 and computer-based written examinations were added to the simulated office orals; harmonization of the Family Medicine Certification examination with Part II of the Medical Council of Canada’s examination is on track for 2013; and
a report of the progressive increase in research granting bodies in Canada recognizing family medicine and primary care researchers and their projects.

As the College continues to grow, so too does the National Board’s agenda. A Governance Advisory Committee has been established to review and monitor the effectiveness of our Board and its committees and to recommend changes to ensure that we will be well positioned to address the future needs of the College and its members.