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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/751527
Manitoba. I saw that doctors' voices were not resonating with government, and important issues were going unheard. I saw a need for a bridging voice, a connective tissue to bring gov- ernment, citizens and doctors together. For those who might be con- fused, what's the difference between Doctors of BC and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C.? Doctors of BC is a medical association whereas the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. is the regulatory body that oversees licences, practices and discipline. Our mission is to work for a social, economic and political climate that creates the conditions allowing members to provide a high level of care to their patients. Our member- ship is voluntary—about $2,000 per year for a general physi- cian—and we provide a wide range of services, including negotiating the Physician Master Agreement with the provincial government, as well as leveraged physician insurance and even discounted hotel rates for our membership. We have also arranged targeted funds for rural physi- cians, specialists and initiatives. Why is it still so hard to nd a GP in this province? There are a number of LIONEL TRUDEL; SOURCE: CANADIAN INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH INFORMATION, 2016 FACTOID Ruddiman, along with his wife and another couple, co-owned Oliver's Toasted Oak Winery until 2008 B orn in Dundee, Scotland, and raised and educated in South Africa, Alan Ruddiman moved to Canada in 1991—practising rural medicine on the Prairies for •ve years before settling in bucolic Oliver, where he continues a general practice to this day. Ruddiman was elected presi- dent of the rebranded Doctors of BC (formerly the B.C. Medical Association) in June 2015, after having held positions within the organization for 20 years. His opponent, Dr. Brian Day, promoted a hybrid of private- public health care options while Ruddiman ran on a platform of reducing bureaucracy and overcrowding in hospitals. The contrast between the two doctors drew a turnout of 50 per cent of the 11,000-strong membership in the runo¥ elec- tion, with Ruddiman prevailing by 603 votes. The 52-year-old GP faces a host of challenges in his new job, which began June 4— including the need for primary- care reform, a doctor shortage and an aging population (Ruddiman's own patients aver- age 76 years of age, he says). But Ruddiman insists that with con- sistent management practices, and by learning success stories from other jurisdictions, there are brighter days ahead. Why did you choose to get involved in the political side of medicine? It traces right back to my early days of residency in rural Dr. Alan Ruddiman The president of Doctors of BC on foreign-trained physicians, overhauling MSP and the future of health-care delivery by Jamie Maw THE CONVERSATION DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017 BCBUSINESS 17 factors. Certainly much blame can be attached to the infamous 1991 Barer-Stoddart Report that said we were graduating too many doctors for the Canadian market. The message to univer- sities and government was: cut back. Unfortunately we're still paying the price, but we are now turning out more general physicians than ever before. Canada has never been self- sucient in doctors; we rely very heavily on supplementing our workforce with internation- ally trained physicians, and now properly credentialed doctors from the U.S., the U.K, Ireland and Australia are accepted at par. Percentage of internationally trained physicians (2015) Canada................ 25.6% Quebec ................. 9.9% Saskatchewan ... 52.5% B.C. ...................... 29.5%