Dear Colleague,
I would very much appreciate your support during the Canadian Podiatric Medical Association Annual General Meeting which will occur this weekend in Calgary. I will be attending the CPMA AGM on behalf of the Ontario Podiatric Medical Association and I would be very honoured to have your endorsement to be elected to serve the CPMA as President.
The OPMA members have made it well known to me that they value the impact that the CPMA can have across Canada. I have made it a point to emphasize our willingness to support and collaborate with the CPMA in my time as OPMA President.
The CPMA have always been active in promoting the interests of Podiatry and to Podiatrists in Canada. I think there are several more things that will add value to our CPMA membership and as President I will make my very best effort to begin the process of their implementation.
These include:
- A comprehensive review of the CPMA by-laws must be undertaken, so that they reflect the new not-for-profit governance environment as well as the CPMA’s governance requirements.
- A Canadian Podiatry Educational Program: The OPMA believes that it is absolutely essential for the acceptance and growth of the podiatry profession in Canada that a post-baccalaureate, university-level, DPM equivalent, podiatry educational program be established in English Canada. That objective should be a priority for the CPMA.
- The “Podiatrist” Brand: The OPMA believes that the CPMA should have as one of its principal objectives the protection and promotion of the “podiatrist” brand. Brand strength is also fundamental to the establishment of the kind of podiatry educational program that Canada needs and to obtaining the kind of comprehensive extended health benefits coverage that our patients require.
- Advocacy to the Federal Government: Like every other health profession we need our own independent and effective advocacy voice in Ottawa if we are to achieve the objectives we seek. We need to be working with a range of departments and agencies including Health Canada, Indigenous Services, CRA, Employment and Social Development, Veterans Affairs Canada, National Defence and Finance Canada, plus several of the Standing Committees of the House of Commons and Senate and the relevant opposition critics.
- Workers Compensation Boards: Foot injuries are amongst the largest number of injuries sustained by workers in the workers compensation system, but the vast majority of those injuries are diagnosed and treated by healthcare practitioners other than podiatrists. Podiatrists must be more engaged in providing care to injured workers within the podiatry scope of practice across Canada.
- Extended Health Benefits Insurers: Since most extended health benefits insurers are national, the CPMA needs to continue to work with CLHIA and individual companies, national unions, governments,etc. to continually expand coverage for procedures performed by podiatrists and to assist in initiatives to reduce fraud, particularly with respect to foot orthotics.
- Other Health Care Professions: Our profession has to do more both nationally and provincially to reach out to and collaborate with other professions. We need other professions to understand better what our competencies and scope of practice are across Canada. We need to develop and be part of innovative health care delivery models such as multidisciplinary primary care teams, etc.
- Publicly-Funded Foot & Ankle Care: We need to work with governments to expand public funding for podiatry in all segments of healthcare, including hospitals, long-term care, primary care, geriatric and palliative care, home care and rehabilitative care.
- Data: There is too little Canadian data — and too little data period —-that demonstrates the efficacy of podiatric care. The absence of data is due to many factors, including the small size of our profession in Canada and the historic absence of an educational program. Nonetheless, if we are to have any success in growing the profession and expanding coverage of podiatric procedures, we simply have to generate more data. I’d like to see the CPMA promote data collection and analysis by Canadian podiatrists. The CPMA should also promote research at the UQTR program.