June 30, 2021
Dear ,
I am contacting you with a few updates about Doctors Manitoba and our advocacy for the medical profession, as well as to invite you to reach out with your feedback and advice.
Pandemic Response
The last several months have been busy for physicians and medical learners as your personal and professional lives were once again disrupted by the pandemic. I have heard from many of you since taking over as President of Doctors Manitoba just two months ago, with serious concerns about COVID-19 and the ongoing provincial pandemic response.
Some of you raised concerns about hospital capacity as admissions surged and others continue to be worried about how public health restrictions are impacting your patients' health and well-being. Physicians offered advice about the vaccine rollout, while others reported another increase in patients seeing their care put on hold. In the ER, I have seen first hand the pressure on our hospitals and the impact the nursing shortage is having on so many of the clinical spheres in which we work.
We continue to advocate for the pandemic issues important to physicians, and recently this has included:
- Calling for a comprehensive, transparent and accountable plan to address the surgery and diagnostic backlog,
- Pressing for an expanded role for physicians in the immunization rollout, and
- Demanding immediate action to address capacity issues in ERs and ICUs
We are also looking ahead to plan for the support and advocacy physicians will need during a prolonged pandemic recovery period.
I want to thank you for everything you've done during the pandemic to help protect the health and well-being of Manitobans. Physicians have been a consistent source of trusted and reliable information for patients during this public health emergency. I hope you are finding our regular COVID-19 updates useful. If you aren't receiving them, sign up here.
Celebration for the Profession
Normally we would have gathered in early May for a gala event to celebrate our annual award recipients, but the pandemic again disrupted our plans. However, we will celebrate this fall. We are hopeful an in-person celebration will be possible, but we are preparing for a hybrid or virtual format as well.
→ Please hold the evening of Saturday, November 20 for the Doctors Manitoba Gala.
We will be in touch with more details later this summer. Regardless of how we can gather, we promise this will be a long overdue opportunity to connect with your colleagues, recognize the contributions of physicians during the pandemic, and celebrate this year's award recipients.
Responding to Member Priorities
Finally, I wanted to share some of the results from our annual member survey from earlier this year, and how we will be responding to the concerns and priorities you identified. Over 1,400 members took the time to respond to the survey, which is very a strong response.
We are very encouraged by your feedback on how Doctors Manitoba is supporting the profession:
- 90% of members are very or somewhat satisfied with Doctors Manitoba overall
- 93% of members agree that Doctors Manitoba speaks up for the profession
- 82% believe we have a credible voice with government
- 80% say Doctors Manitoba understands their needs.
However positive this sounds, your Board is focused on where Doctors Manitoba can improve and serve you better. In the survey, members said it is important to invest more time and resources in a number of areas:
- Expand physician health and wellness programming (89% of members)
- Offer more resources on the "business" side of practicing medicine (88%)
- Provide more support for an increasing number of billing audits (86%)
- Increase our public awareness campaigns and advertising (80%)
The Board has reviewed this feedback carefully and we are committed to addressing all of these issues. While our current resources are insufficient to allow us to address these concerns in a meaningful way, you will hear more soon about our plans to address that. Most importantly, you will see action on all four of these member priorities over the next year.
One area of significant concern is physician health, with very troubling trends identified through the survey:
- 45% of physicians and medical learners are showing signs of burnout
- 34% have signs of depression
- 7% have thought about suicide in the 12 months before responding to the survey
These issues are generally more prevalent among residents and younger physicians, but no group was immune to these conditions, whether we look at age, gender, geography, specialty or bloc.
While we work on strengthening our physician health programming, we are also working on addressing the institutional and systemic barriers to physician and medical learner wellness. This includes a major community of practice initiative with employers and we are a proud partner in the Civility Saves Lives campaign to improve the culture in clinical learning environments. You can learn more about physician health and wellness here.
We have embraced a new mandate for Doctors Manitoba over the last year, with a broader focus on strengthening and supporting the whole physician, so that every doctor has what they need to deliver exceptional care to Manitobans. Your feedback, through surveys, in emails to staff, or by contacting me directly, are invaluable as we chart the path forward. Please contact me anytime at president@doctorsmanitoba.ca.
I wish you a safe and healthy summer, and I hope you'll find some time for rest and family as much as you can.
