Dear ACFP Members,
Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our recent needs assessment survey. Your feedback is important to us and helps us better understand your priorities and the challenges you face.
Between April 24 and May 31, six percent of our membership responded to the survey, offering important insight into where the ACFP should focus our advocacy, education, engagement, and public awareness efforts.
Reassuringly, your feedback aligns with the recent discussions we have had as a Board and staff team as we plan our work for the coming years. Several clear themes emerged:
- Advocacy and Policy Influence: Members emphasized the importance of continued advocacy for family physicians, including influencing public and health policy and supporting the Patient’s Medical Home vision.
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Education: Feedback highlighted a strong interest in CPD program offerings, high-quality and accessible educational content, and specialized, practice-oriented CPD topics.
- Physician Wellness and Support: Members identified the need for more support for member wellness, including assistance in reducing administrative burden and more social time at existing CPD events.
- Member Engagement and Communication: Responses emphasized the value of effective communication channels, member networking, and meaningful engagement opportunities.
- Public Awareness: Members also noted the importance of increasing public awareness of family medicine and its value to patients, communities, and the health system.
These results will help guide our planning and decision-making in the months ahead. We will use what you shared to inform future programs, resources, communications, and engagement opportunities so that our work continues to reflect your needs.
As a Board, we continue to advocate for family physicians and the Patient’s Medical Home. I represent ACFP members at the Primary Care Alberta’s (PCA) Provincial Physician Advisory Group and was part of a working group to develop a Physician Engagement Plan for PCA. We look forward to the implementation of the robust recommendations that came out of this working group.
With the recent cabinet shuffle, we have reached out to Minister Wright, the Minister for Primary and Preventative Health Services, and look forward to meeting in the coming weeks. We also recognize the importance of engaging Albertans in advocating for family medicine and will be working on ways to engage with the public.
We appreciate your continued involvement and commitment to strengthening our community and shaping the direction of our work.
As always, I value your perspective. Your comments, questions, and concerns are welcome. Please feel free to reach out to me at acfppres@acfp.ca.
Sincerely,
Melanie Hnatiuk, MD, CCFP, FCFP
ACFP President
