Reflecting on last year; looking forward with optimism

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 54, No. 1, January February 2012, Page 10 President's Comment

The arrival of a new year provides a great opportunity to look back at the previous year’s challenges and accomplishments, and to anticipate and work toward a promising and inspirational 2012.

As you most likely know, negotiations began in earnest last year to renew the Physician Master Agreement. At the time of writing this column in early January, an agreement has yet to be concluded. Our negotiators, however, are continuing to strive for an agreement. I will keep you apprised of any new developments as they occur.

Last June we released a policy paper, “Enhancing Surgical Care in BC: Improving Perioperative Quality, Efficiency, and Access,” in which we reviewed issues common to most hospitals that negatively impact surgical care in the periods before, during, and after surgery. The BCMA recommend­ed the development and implementation of standard procedures and best practices applying to all hospital operating rooms in the province.

In July, we released a second policy paper, entitled “Doctors Today and Tomorrow: Planning British Co­lumbia’s Physician Workforce,” in which the BCMA looked at physician resources in relation to the needs of patients. The paper made nine recommendations to ensure that our pro­vince has an adequate supply of physicians to meet the future health care needs of British Columbians.

The BCMA considers it important to take a stand on health issues facing British Columbians, government, and physicians, and to make recommendations that we believe will benefit all partners in care. This year we will be releasing a policy paper on medical professionalism that will take a hard look at professional relationships and perceptions of medical professionalism, and make a series of recommendations based on our findings.

I am pleased to say that the BCMA and government worked well together last year in an effort to implement some key programs to enhance patient care. Based on the BCMA’s 2009 policy paper on addiction, BC became the first jurisdiction in Canada to treat addiction as a chronic disease. 

Family doctors now have access to new guidelines covering screening, assessment, and intervention for problem drinking, and treatment resources for alcohol addiction similar to those available for other chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension.

As well, the Prescription for Health program became available last year. Developed in partnership with the General Practice Services Committee, this program provides doctors with additional tools to help British Co­lumbians who smoke, have unhealthy eating habits, are physically inactive, or are medically obese to get on the road to a healthier lifestyle. 

Through the Council on Health Promotion we had a successful second annual Walk with your Doc event last May in which more than 100 physicians in 28 communities took part. This year we intend to have an even bigger event, with the addition of a program called Be Active Every Day, developed to increase the activity levels of BC school children. 

I am looking forward to 2012. Based on last year’s successes and the hard work of BCMA staff and physician volunteers, I anticipate new programs being implemented to benefit physicians, patients, and the health care system, and the continuation of meaningful dialogue with government, including working toward a new Master Agreement. 
—Nasir Jetha, MD
President

Nasir Jetha, MD,. Reflecting on last year; looking forward with optimism. BCMJ, Vol. 54, No. 1, January, February, 2012, Page(s) 10 - President's Comment.



Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

BCMJ standard citation style is a slight modification of the ICMJE/NLM style, as follows:

  • Only the first three authors are listed, followed by "et al."
  • There is no period after the journal name.
  • Page numbers are not abbreviated.


For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

BCMJ Guidelines for Authors

Leave a Reply