Following my graduation from UBC in 1992 and working in locum placements in northern BC, I settled in Coquitlam. My practice incorporated Full Service Family Practice, obstetrics and surgical assists in Open Heart surgery, a heavy schedule with a young family. Throughout these busy early years, I actively participated in the medical staff at 3 local hospitals. However, it was not until the onset of the Divisions of Family Practice initiative that my interest in medical leadership really blossomed.
As a founding member and Physician Lead for the Fraser Northwest Division of Family Practice, I capitalized on many opportunities to reconnect our community and hospital-based FPs to each other and to local health care management teams. Collecting, integrating, and representing the views of the various stakeholders to effect meaningful improvements to the healthcare system for patients, practitioners, and health care management was both challenging and rewarding. These experiences sparked a keen interest to become further involved in overall system change.
As a founding Executive board member, and subsequently President, of Royal Columbian Hospital Medical Staff Society, I gained a deeper understanding of the complex issues that shaping our healthcare system. Listening to and exploring the needs of facility-based physicians, and health authority management in an inclusive and non-partisan fashion cemented my deep respect for the many hardships my colleagues cope with daily to deliver high quality comprehensive patient care. Integrating and coordinating these diverse perspectives resulted in many successful improvements, despite the complexities related to managing our pandemic response.
Pathways (Pathwaysbc.ca) was born of the need to improve FP to Specialist referral processes in BC. I was fortunate to be part of the amazing team that designed and developed this resource and even more fortunate to Chair the ongoing functional development and provincial expansion of Pathways. Now incorporating easily searchable information regarding physicians, health authority clinics, referral forms and community resources alongside physician and patient clinical resources and care pathways, Pathwaysbc.ca has become an irreplaceable resource for clinical practice in BC and the Yukon.
President of Doctors of BC I had the honour of engaging, re-invigorating, and helping empower our physician communities across BC, including rapid change management in the face of a global pandemic. This was an exceptional opportunity to be a part of our professions’ engagement, strategic planning, and mobilization in the face of a struggling healthcare system. Together we demonstrated our irreplaceable role in the planning and delivery of patient care in a truly unprecedented fashion.
I believe in a publicly funded, accessible, continuous, and comprehensive medical system. I recognize that there are multiple barriers to this goal and I am willing to take on these challenges and represent all our members. As our national physician representative body, I believe the CMA has the capability to effectively engage with members, listen and integrate their perspectives and lobby for system level improvement.