President Message – January 2023

A word from our President, Dr. R. Douglas Wilson

The SOGC leadership team want to wish you everyone a Happy New Year and acknowledge the very diverse celebrations used to celebrate the changing from one year to the next. I wish for you all to think about your health and happiness in 2023. I want to begin the year by sharing three messages from various media streams that I think have important connections for you as SOGC members.

Self-care among physicians is a priority for 2023. As a doctor, it is our job to look after others, but all too often, it comes at the expense of taking care of ourselves. Research shows that physicians report higher levels of depression and suicidal ideation than the general population and end their own lives twice as frequently. In the USA, they estimate one physician dies by suicide each day. Physicians hesitate to seek care for mental health conditions because they fear the professional consequences and often carry that burden on their own. Adding to the mental health impacts of being a physician is burnout; this contributes to more medical errors and patient’s feeling less satisfied with the clinical care they receive. In the USA, physician burnout is directly related to many providers choosing to leave the practice of medicine altogether. This in turn has a negative the impact on the medical labor force; it is the equivalent of losing the graduates of seven medical schools every four years. In Canada, we are facing similar staffing shortages; so we need to protect and support the doctors  we have as well as the ones in training.

How provinces use valuable healthcare dollars should be on everyone’s mind. Using these funds in the most cost-effective way is important as we see the strain on our systems; most provinces prioritize care without an adequate understanding of ‘real’ effectiveness of the care provided.  The effectiveness of healthcare spending equates to the ratio of an increase in spending per case of illness or injury to an increase in disability-adjusted life -years (DALYs) averted per case. An analysis focused on the 34 causes with the highest spending and highest DALYs in 2016 (pre-COVID) which accounted for 73% of the spending and 76% of the total DALYs. Some examples of spending changes are provided for context, as the mean change in spending per case ranged from a 27% decrease for breast cancer to a 256% increase for anxiety disorders. For the DALYs, the mean percentage change per case ranged from 43% decrease for diabetes to a 110% increase for drug use disorders. For 11/22 causes, the median spending effectiveness ratio was < $100,000 per DALYs averted and for 8/22 was >$500,000 per DALYs averted. Breast cancer was the only cause that saw a decrease in spending per case accompanied by an increase in DALYs averted. The other 10 causes saw increased spending per case and decreased DALYs averted suggesting that healthcare spending was INEFFECTIVE for these causes. We need a better management of the Canadian healthcare systems.

Better understanding of the human resources in obstetrics and gynecology is essential. Hospital or community team-based care models provide better care. Patients under the care of a primary care provider with a strong clinical connection to a specialist have improved transfer of care. Patients report getting treatment with more concern/care, receiving clearer explanations, and had greater engagement in shared decision-making. The findings suggested that collaborative care with strong peer-to-peer relationships among providers could lead to significant gains in the quality of patient care.

What SOGC is offering its members in 2023?

• Continued action to fulfill the 2021-2025 SOGC Strategic Plan  – Healthy women, Healthy professionals, Excellent care through various activities
• Completion of the new SOGC Governance Framework for the membership and affiliates, Board, Board Committee’s (Guideline Management Oversight Committee; Finance; Talent Acquisition and Nomination; Governance) and the Clinical and Educational Councils
• Face to Face interactions at the SOGC Annual and Regional Meetings as well as many other learning opportunities
• Focused clinical care priorities such as the Menopause Symposium / Banff Western Regional March 2023
• SOGC leadership and collaboration projects with Maternal Mortality, Stillbirth Prevention, and First Exposure (Perinatal Drugs and Medication Information)
• Enhanced Gynecology Provider Collaboration with subspecialty gynecology medical and surgery groups 
• Planning for new and re-energized Clinical and Educational Committees
• New SOGC leadership opportunities for members and affiliates

Looking forward to a year full of many new endeavors!

Dr. R Douglas Wilson