National Day For Truth And Reconciliation (2021)—A Mini-Call To Action
September 30, 2021 will be Canada's First National Day For Truth And Reconciliation. One way that physicians can support reconciliation is to support the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada (IPAC).
IPAC is a growing membership organization now at 281 members. Their website describes their impressive ongoing work in Canadian health care, medical education, mentorship, and physician wellness. IPAC is a member of the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Forum and partners with Canadian medical schools, the AFMC, and The National Consortium For Indigenous Medical Education. On August 19, 2021, The Canadian Medical Association Foundation granted IPAC funding to support mentorship activities and short-term financial stability, $500,000 per year X 2 years.
IPAC welcomes non-Indigenous physicians as Associate Members. An Associate Membership costs $250 per year (renewable each August) and provides the following benefits:
Support the work of IPAC
Reduced registration rates for annual IPAC National Mentorship Forum
Reduced registration rates for PRIDoC 2022
IPAC Newsletter
Private IPAC Facebook Group
I think the greatest benefits of ongoing Associate Membership would be the financial stability and the moral support that non-Indigenous physicians can provide to Indigenous physicians. If 1% of Canadian physicians joined, that would provide IPAC with the stability of $200,000 per year in ongoing funding. I have just joined. I encourage all Canadian physicians to familiarize themselves with the work of IPAC and NCIME and to consider supporting IPAC as well, whether by donation or Associate Membership.
Best regards,
Shayne
Bio
Dr. Shayne Taback is a pediatric subspecialist, research educator, and executive coach for physicians across the continuum from new graduate to C-Suite Chief Medical Officer. To learn more about him and our other coaches, please click here. Or to contact Shayne, please e-mail shayne.taback@physiciansupport.ca or click here. To regularly receive blog posts, please sign up to our newsletter below.