July 2022
2022 ELECTIONS
The Board of Directors provides important strategic guidance to our association. But it also lets volunteers use skills not exercised in your day-to-day practice and offers the opportunity to expand your professional networks and gain leadership experience with a national organization. As a member of the Board your participation also allows you to report 15 Section 2 credit hours towards your CPD requirements.
The 2022 Elections expression of interest window is now closed. The following positions were open for election:
- President-Elect
- Alberta – Director and Alternate Director
- Saskatchewan – Alternate Director
- Manitoba – Alternate Director
- Quebec – Alternate Director
- Newfoundland – Director and Alternate Director
- New Brunswick – Director and Alternate Director
- Nova Scotia – Director and Alternate Director
- Prince Edward Island – Provincial Director and Alternate Director
- Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon – Provincial Director and Alternate Director
- Canadian Armed Forces Representative
Through our election process no candidates opposed the following individuals and the expression of interest window has been extended to August 19 for all board positions.
- President-Elect – Kirsten Luomala
- Alberta Alternate Director – Hannah Wiens
- Saskatchewan Alternate Director – Ashley Millham
- Manitoba Alternate Director – Kali Braun
- Quebec Alternate Director – Ryan Seangio
- Newfoundland Director – Kathleen Abreo
- New Brunswick Director – Ryan Bennett
- Nova Scotia Director – Peter Thibeault
- Prince Edward Island Director – Erin Sephton
- Canadian Armed Forces Representative – Andrew Carriere
Members have until August 19 to submit their expression of interest for any of the remaining vacant positions or any of the unopposed candidates above.
After the August 19 deadline, if candidates remain unopposed, all candidates who expressed interest will be acclaimed to the board position and will take their seat on the Board following the 2022 Annual Members Meeting.
The following three (3) members submitted their names for Director, Alberta:
Rachel Prato
Magda Predota
Lee Spencer
An election will take place for the members in Alberta to elect their director. As per our election process, a vote will take place on September 12. Candidate information will be uploaded to the Election Candidates page in the Members section of the CAPA website by August 22, 2022. If you have any questions, please contact Sandra Bourgon at sbourgon@capa-acam.ca
CALL FOR AWARDS
Do you know a deserving candidate for the Tom Ashman Physician Assistant of the Year Award, CAPA Honour Roll, or the PARSEC/CAPA PA Educator Award? If so, click here to learn more.
The call for nominations was launched on July 21 and the deadline for nominations is September 2.
We hope that you, our membership will help us by putting forward award nominations in 2022 and future years for our awards so we can recognize the great work of our PA profession in Canada.
CERTIFICATION
2022 PA Cert Exam
As a reminder, the 2022 PA Cert Exam will be administered on October 6, 2022. The registration deadline will be September 22, 2022, and it is important to note that NO registrations will be accepted after this date. Once all the registrations are completed, candidates will be provided with information on how to proceed with getting registered through the ProctorU platform.
Should you have any questions about registering for the 2022 PA Cert Exam, please contact Sandra at sbourgon@capa-acam.ca.
CAPA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Registration for the CAPA 2022 conference in Quebec City is NOW OPEN! Click here to secure your spot and register for the conference.
CAPA 2022 will take place at the Hilton in beautiful Quebec City from November 10th – 13th. This year’s conference theme will be about coming back together and getting back to basics, focusing on primary care topics.
The call for presentation proposal abstracts and speakers will remain open until the Program Planning Committee finalizes the program. There are still some open timeslots. CAPA is looking for oral and panel presentations to round out the high-caliber program. For more details, please visit the CAPA website. Submit your presentation proposal by using the template provided, along with a completed disclosure form.
CAPA is also accepting submissions for E-Posters. Poster sessions provide an opportunity to disseminate research results in a brief format and to discuss it with your peers. CAPA will be accepting submissions in the following categories: original research, case report, educational resources and interventions. In order to be considered, please submit an abstract (maximum 500 words) to admin@capa-acam.ca by September 12, 2022. Please click here for more details.
2022 ANNUAL MEMBER MEETING – Friday, November 11, 2022│16:30 – 18:00 ET
Your 2022 AMM is scheduled for November 11, 2022. As always, ALL members may attend the AMM but only Regular, New Graduate, Sustained, Student and Retired PA members are eligible to vote. For those registering for the conference, you can also register for the AMM. Members who only want to register for the AMM, can access the conference registration link and only choose AMM for your option.
Board Members and the Executive Director will be on hand to review financials, speak about the activities of the past year, and provide important updates. The agenda and documents will be posted to the AMM section in the Members tab of the CAPA website.
ADVOCACY NEWS
National
HRR Consultation
CAPA facilitated PAs to be included in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences’ Assessment consultation on issues facing the Canadian health workforce with regards to Health Human Resources. Additionally, CAPA made a written submission which highlighted how PAs should be part of the health human resources shortage solution. Making sure PA views are represented in national consultations on workforce planning is a critical step in garnering support for more PA funding and training spots.
CAEP Consultation
PAs were also included in the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) Task Force on the Future of Emergency Medicine. The mission of the task force is to create a systems approach to the future of emergency medicine in Canada.
PA Education Advocacy Campaign
On July 11th CAPA met with the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) to discuss holding a permanent PA representative/seat on the COU to ensure there is a voice for PAs. Although adding a PA would require a change in the Committee’s Terms of Reference, the council was favourable of this. The council is also exploring the development of a proposal to increase the number of PA training spots and programs for submission to the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Colleges and Universities. Bi-weekly meetings have been scheduled to continue the discussion of these items. Members will be apprised of developments as they occur.
Adding to CAPA’s comprehensive advocacy plan to increase the number of training spots and programs in the country, letters have been sent to all medical schools and provincial medical associations, requesting they join in our advocacy efforts, by sending letters of support to their respective provincial government bodies.
Federal Minister of Health
CAPA President, Kevin Dickson and Nova Scotia, Alternate Director, Erin Sephton met with the Minister of Health, The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos on July 12th in Halifax, Nova Scotia to discuss the importance of adding PAs to the HHR strategy, provide funding for PA training, as well as the creation and funding of positions in corrections, as well as First Nations communities. Also, present at the meeting were Nova Scotia caucus members Lena Metlage Diab, Jaime Battiste and Darren Fisher. The meeting was extremely positive with all ministers being in full support of PAs with a particular interest in primary care. Thank you, letters were sent to all those in attendance, along with an information brief on how PAs can help.
Indigenous Services Canada
Indigenous Services Canada has invited CAPA to present to their First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNHIB), which has had a longstanding role of supporting the delivery of health services to First Nations and Inuit. The meeting will occur on September 16th, at which time CAPA will have the opportunity to present to the FNIHB Regional Medical Officers on the benefits of the PA role.
British Columbia
Minister of Health, Adriene Dix, has been on the record several times recently saying that “he is doing everything he can to improve health human resources”. CAPA takes issue with this assertion as we know the Government of BC can introduce PAs to help with the HHR crisis but chooses not to. We will be reaching out to his office, the Premiers office, as well as engaging social media to ensure decision makers and the public are aware that PAs still need to be introduced into the province.
Alberta
Alberta Minister of Advanced Education, Demetrios Nicolaides, responded to our information brief requesting that the Government of Alberta create PA training spots in Alberta. In the response, he indicated that PAs are part of the discussion on training the future of health care in Alberta. Additionally, the Minister instructed the Executive Director of Innovation within Advanced Education to meet with CAPA to discuss training spots further.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has reached a negotiated deal with allied health workers from Health Sciences Association of Alberta which include ambulance paramedics, respiratory therapists, social workers, speech-language pathologists and other healthcare workers. CAPA has reached out to AHS to see if this will impact the timeline for when AHS reviews PA compensation. We were then notified that AHS has created a project team at the provincial level looking to maximize the use of PAs in the province. This encompasses salary, employment, recruitment, retention and establishing a training program.
Manitoba
CAPA staff have been busy reaching out to MLAs in Manitoba to meet in the Fall. The invitations have received good uptake so far and meetings with the Manitoba NDP, Liberals, and Progressive Conservatives are being arranged. This coordinated push will ensure that PA issues are front of mind for decisions makers in Manitoba.
Yukon
CAPA has sent a letter of congratulations to Dr. Sudit Ranade who was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Health for the Yukon Government. This letter included our priorities in the Yukon which include:
- Introduce PAs into the Yukon’s health system;
- Develop a plan to train PAs locally and work with Post-Secondary Institutions to implement a PA education program to keep health care workers in their local community; and
- Ensure PAs are compensated fairly in comparison to other jurisdictions.
Ontario
Ministry of Health
A meeting was held on July 18th to discuss how PAs can help with existing HHR challenges. Regulation, the need to increase training spots and better funding were discussed during the meeting. The reps committed to bring forward these items to the new Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones. A follow up call has already occurred, and we hope to learn more about their plan before the end of August. CAPA staff followed-up with the Conference Board of Canada reports to aid in their fact finding to prep the new Minister. A follow-up meeting is in the process of being scheduled.
Primary Care PAs
To further our advocacy work for PAs working in Primary Care, CAPA is conducting a survey to determine where to focus our efforts. If you are a PA working in Primary Care, please take a moment to complete this confidential survey.
A meeting will also take place in the coming weeks for PAs working in Family Health Teams to summarize the advocacy efforts being undertaken. An email with participant information will be coming to your inbox soon.
Nova Scotia
The conversation continues in Nova Scotia with regular follow-up meetings with Nova Scotia Health and Doctors Nova Scotia. There is a lot of support for PAs in the province and we are hopeful that movement of the profession is forthcoming.
PAs IN THE NEWS
On the St Johns morning show Manitoba physician Dr. Trevor Barron was interviewed to discuss how Newfoundland and Labrador have fallen short in their recruitment efforts to bring physicians to the province. Dr. Barron goes on to explain that it would be an incentive if his partner who is a PA were able to practice in the province as well.
JOB LISTINGS
Visit the Job Listings in the members only section of the CAPA website (remember to sign in) for the latest career opportunities. New positions in July include one at the The Thyroid and Hormones Endocrinology Center in Oakville, ON, one at Etobicoke Brampton Sleep Clinic and Malvern Sleep Clinic in Etobicoke, ON and one at the Northwest Echocardiography Lab in Grande Prairie, AB. There are also plenty of other new job ads listed in Neurology, Family Medicine, and Oncology.
If you have job ads to share or know a physician or organization looking to incorporate PAs into their practice, send them to us at admin@capa-acam.ca. We post job ads for free on the Job Listings page and, for a small fee we can email job opportunities directly to all our members.
CPD EVENTS
Don’t forget to check out the CPD Events Calendar on the CAPA website where you’ll find upcoming events to help you meet your maintenance of competencies or maintenance of certification requirements. Many organizations share their educational events with us.