🎆 Year in Review and the Year Ahead

December 19, 2024

This week’s special edition of vitals: 1,484 words / 5 minutes

2024 was filled with lots of change, as our profession grew to new heights – over 3,400 doctors + record med school enrollment! – and Doctors Manitoba grew to support you better.

Read below for a special year in review, with highlights of key moments from the year along with tips and invitations you won’t want to miss.

But first, watch a holiday message from our President, Dr. Randy Guzman.

Earlier this year, the Board of Directors presented a new 2024-2028 Strategic Plan, rooted in feedback by physicians and medical learners, about what you need Doctors Manitoba to be. That’s reflected in a new priority in our plan, to help physicians be physicians. We are focused on freeing up your time and getting you the support you need so you can focus on your practice.

A key part of that focus is pushing to reduce the 10+ hours per week most physicians spend on paperwork and administrative tasks, many of which are needlessly overcomplicated or wholly unnecessary. Our Joint Task Force made progress in some areas and issued key recommendations, and we landed a major grant to fuel our push to get rid of sick notes and other third party forms . In the year ahead, we’ll continue that work, push for truly integrated electronic record systems including for referrals and requisitions, and more.

📢 Help us keep up the progress this year by sharing your biggest administrative burdens and ideas for improvement by emailing us at adminburden@doctorsmanitoba.ca.

Some groups in the medical profession have faced barriers and mistreatment, which is why the Board also expanded our strategic plan to include a foundational focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization.

We will continue to advocate for a profession where every doctor on every path can find their calling, and not be harmed due to their identity. This includes support every step of the way. This past year we launched new peer support groups, expanded our race and ethnicity question on your registration form to be more inclusive, and traveled to join the apology on behalf of the medical profession for its role in the harms caused to Indigenous Peoples in the health system, led by the Canadian Medical Association.

In January, physicians are invited to share their views on equity barriers and discrimination physicians experience in professional settings, and to seek ideas on solutions. This is part of a study Doctors Manitoba, along with five other medical associations, is supporting.

🗣️ Want to take part in the focus group? Complete a demographic survey and attend a virtual 90-minute focus group, and you’ll receive a $180 honorarium for your time. Learn more and register here.

Connecting is a theme for Dr. Randy Guzman’s year as president. (Read a profile of Dr. Guzman and the importance of connection here). From a small book club group to over 500 celebrating at the Doctors Manitoba Gala, we’re continuing to find more ways to bring members together. Our Mentorship Program has reached a record 468 participants. We made our way to Morden and Winkler this month, following a fall trip to The Pas and Flin Flon to support our members in their home communities.

📚 Applications are open for the 2025 Group CPD Program. Learning together is one more way to connect and protect!

Earlier this year, our Physician Services Agreement brought a 2% increase in remuneration along with new tariffs for designated specialists to support continuing patient care management as well as Family Medicine Plus.

In addition to negotiating more funding to support physician services, we also expanded our practice advice team to offer you more support and guidance. This includes Michelle McKay as Practice Advisor and Shannon Noël, our New-to-Practice Coordinator.

❓ If you have billing questions or need advice about your practice, reach out to practiceadvice@doctorsmanitoba.ca.

We started the year with a boost to our maternal and parental leave benefit to a max of $2,000 per week for up to 20 weeks. This year is also the beginning of a new Rural and Northern Retention Benefit, with an anticipated payment of at least $25,000 for three years of continuous service.

We expanded our Continuing Professional Development rebate and introduced a new Claim-As-You-Learn portal. A reminder if you have any unclaimed expenses for 2023 from the former CME rebate program, you have until December 31, 2024, to submit them.

📞 Get a free insurance checkup with our in-house advisor, Mark Venton. Click here to schedule your appointment. Our not-for-profit insurance plans are designed by physicians, for physicians.

The top concern we hear from physicians is about the doctor shortage and how it impacts their workload and their patients’ access to care.

Together, our advocacy has started to pay off. Last year saw a record increase of 133 more doctors, and this year is shaping up to have another 100+ net gain as well. This means the physician shortage in Manitoba has finally started to shrink after reaching a record high.

Our advocacy has led to a medical school expansion, more IMG training, expanded retention benefits, a historic physician services agreement and a commitment from the government to add 400 more doctors during this mandate.

🖱️ Our Practice Opportunities is the most visited page on our website, and we’ve had hundreds of postings this year alone. Any clinic, hospital or practice can post an opportunity! Let’s keep growing our number of physicians together.

Our public awareness resource, GettingHealthy.ca, grew this year with a record 55,000+ visits! The site now includes the Getting Healthy Guide, a screening tool where Manitobans can enter their age and gender to receive personalized and trusted tips from Manitoba’s expert doctors.

We’ll keep growing GettingHealthy.ca next year, bringing Manitobans reliable advice from the most trusted health profession – doctors – about preventing disease and living a longer healthier life. We’re showing the public your expertise and we’re showing them how much you care about their well-being.

👀 We’re looking for physicians who want to contribute content! We know you are busy, so we can help draft it for you. Drop us a line to learn more at gettinghealthy@doctorsmanitoba.ca.

Doctors Manitoba negotiated additional individual supports for Doc360 to assist physicians and medical learners in need. Two additional counsellors started with the PAR Program to improve access and offer a range of therapeutic interventions. We also launched an online intake form to make seeking help more accessible.

In 2025, new virtual CBTm courses are starting specifically designed for medical learners and physicians. There are several formats including facilitator-led and self-directed learning. Learning these skills will not only benefit you, but can also provide benefits when you are caring for patients or supporting colleagues. All courses are CPD accredited.

As we look to the new year, the Organizational Peer Support (OPS) Program will be expanding to include the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health. If your organization or department is interested in implementing evidence-based health and well-being programming, reach out to explore how Doctors Manitoba can assist you.

📞 Doc360 help continues to be available over the holiday season.

The Doctors Manitoba Board of Directors is made up of physicians and learners elected to represent all members, setting the direction and keeping everything we do grounded in what physicians need to thrive in medicine. That’s why it’s so important to ensure the Board reflects the professional and personal attributes of the broader membership.

Serving on the Doctors Manitoba Board allows you to build new skills and strengths in governance, learn from your peers, and grow as a leader.

Consider joining the Board. Elections for new Winnipeg districts happen this spring, with rural and northern districts following in 2026.

💻 Want to learn more about joining our Board? Attend an informational webinar on January 20 about what it’s like to be on the Board and learn about foundational governance practices. Click here to learn more.

The nominations have closed for our annual awards, and we expect the 2025 winners to be unveiled in February. In the meantime, let’s tip our hats to this year’s award winners:

📅 Save the date! The next Doctors Manitoba Awards Gala is May 10, 2025!

Office Closure Reminder

The Doctors Manitoba offices will be closed from Monday, December 23 through Friday, December 27. While our office is closed, members of our team will be monitoring our Practice Advice email box for any urgent issues. If your matter is urgent, please email us at practiceadvice@doctorsmanitoba.ca.