Amid a years-long pandemic and a mounting health care crisis, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is advocating at the national level for urgent health reform, in partnership with physicians and medical learners.
The association has been calling for government action and collaboration to transform health, the health system and the health workforce, with a focus on solutions that will most greatly benefit the profession and Canadians.
This work includes responding to the current health crisis and advancing change in areas such as health human resource planning, reducing administrative burden and pan-Canadian licensure.
To focus resources on this work, the CMA is today announcing a series of changes to its programs and services.
The CMA will be retiring its clinical tools and services and practice management curriculum, and redesigning its physician leadership program. The CMAJ Group is also streamlining their operations and will wind down CMAJ Open. These decisions will have staffing implications, including reassignments and departures.
Upcoming changes to CMA programs and services:
- No changes will be made to clinical tools and services until after Apr. 27, 2023; specific expiry dates are posted on each clinical tool page. Our UpToDate discount will expire on June 28, 2023. Physicians and learners may have access to clinical information tools and/or library services through their affiliation with a hospital, health system, medical school library or other organization. View a list of alternate providers.
- The practice management curriculum will be retired as of June 30, 2023; all planned courses to that date will run as scheduled. The CMA is in communication with medical schools and other groups who support learners transitioning into practice.
- Details around the winding down of CMAJ Open will be shared by the CMAJ Group. CMAJ will continue to be published online and in print – 12 print and 50 online issues of CMAJ and 6 print issues of JAMC (French version) per year – and will continue to include clinical guidelines.
- The physician leadership program will be redesigned to better align with the CMA’s advocacy priorities and support physicians in driving system-level change. Currently scheduled open enrolment courses will run as planned until June 9, with the new program being announced in the future.
The CMA will continue to bring together physicians and medical learners who believe in a better future of health and who are passionate about influencing change to solve Canada’s health care challenges.
Support for the profession also remains a priority, with the CMA focused on improving physician wellness by securing federal anti-harassment legislation, working to reduce administrative burden, allocating more than $100 million to date to wellness programs across the country, and more.
To find out more about how the CMA is having an impact, please visit cma.ca/our-focus.