On the road to the future

All roads are said to lead to Rome, but some itineraries are more tortuous than others. This is why it is advisable to examine the available options to determine the best road to take to reach one’s destination, even if it means adjusting the course if the unexpected happens. For organizations, this exercise is called strategic planning and the road map to follow, the strategic plan. During the past 5 years, our College has grown considerably. Health care has become more complex and organizations are increasingly interdependent. It is vital that the College review its objectives to ensure that it stays relevant and at the forefront of health care. Following an exercise that lasted a little longer than a year, the new strategic plan was approved at the CFPC Board of Directors’ meeting in November 2012. It has been posted on the CFPC website since the beginning of 2013.¹ I thought it was important to talk about the plan, as it describes how the CFPC understands health issues and how it intends to play its role.

Of course, the CFPC’s fundamental mission remains unchanged—to support family physicians to enable them to provide high-quality health care for their patients and their communities—but the 2013 to 2017 plan now contains 6 strategic goals, up from the initial 3 in the previous plan. The first 3 strategic goals are essentially the same. Championing high-quality patient-centred health care is still our first goal and will be accomplished, among other ways, by implementing the Patient’s Medical Home vision and supporting our members with special interests. Promoting the discipline of family medicine as a fulfilling career and promoting relevant educational standards for the continuum of training remain our second and third goals, respectively. To achieve them, we will continue to encourage the development of family medicine interest groups. We will be more sensitive to our members’ needs during times of transition in their careers. We would like to create support programs focused on the health and well-being of family physicians and residents. With respect to education, the implementation of the Triple C curriculum, in close collaboration with university departments of family medicine, and the review of the Mainpro^® (Maintenance of Proficiency) program will be key initiatives. And what about the 3 new strategic goals? They involve increasing family medicine’s research capacity, consolidating our organizational effectiveness, and explicitly committing to being a socially accountable organization.

By making the development of family medicine research capacity a strategic goal, the CFPC recognizes that producing knowledge specific to family medicine is a pivotal issue if we want to contribute to improving quality of care in a unique way and stay at the forefront of the health care system. The College wants to be part of the new research dynamic in which knowledge and innovation are the result of a co-production between knowledge users—for us, clinicians and teachers—and researchers. The College’s mission is not to become a research organization but rather a catalyst for the strengths of our sections of researchers and teachers.

At a time when health is increasingly becoming a provincial and territorial rather than a federal issue, it is important to review how we can increase our organizational effectiveness. The fifth strategic goal is to ensure that the CFPC and its provincial Chapters have the capacity to serve their members effectively. One year ago, a working group on equity between the provincial Chapters and the CFPC was created. The Chapters and the CFPC hold work sessions twice a year, and a list of priorities has been drawn up. The objectives are to promote collaborative relationships in the development of health care policies and effectiveness in our relationships with governments. We would also like to increase opportunities for members from all communities to become leaders within the CFPC or in our provincial Chapters. The development of the next generation of leaders is an important strategic goal for family medicine.

The sixth and final strategic goal is our commitment to incorporating the promotion of social equity and justice into all our initiatives. A working group on social accountability, led by our Past President, Dr Sandy Buchman, has been created. The group’s mandate is to develop an internal policy on social justice that will guide our committees. We are also involved in issues related to aboriginal and refugee health. Finally, we are developing a policy to set out guidelines for our relationship, as an organization, with the health industry.

This is an overview of the road map the CFPC has drawn for itself to enable it to fulfil its mission. It is, as it were, the baton that will be passed on by and to future presidents as well as to members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. It is an inspirational road map. By being aware of the important milestones, you will be able to judge whether we are on course.

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