Chair's Message

It has been nearly one full year since a governance review was completed for the Department of Family Medicine by Deloitte. For some time now, we have had a small Governance Committee examining the final report and deciding how best to bring the recommendations into our Department.

Ultimately, the Department of Family Medicine will need to develop a strategic plan to cover the next five-year period. We are now planning for a strategic planning exercise to be completed this fall, which gives us time for proper planning and preparation.

You will recall the general principles of the Deloitte recommendations were as follows:

  1. Align with Schulich's long-term goals.
  2. Foster stable and constructive partnerships.
  3. Promote transparency and visibility.
  4. Formalize accountability within the faculty.
  5. Increase diversity of representation on decision-making process.

As a first step in the strategic planning process we are hoping to focus on a Department Practice Plan at our Clinical Faculty Retreat on June 15, 2016. It is very important for all clinical faculty to participate in this process. The Practice Plan will help to:

  • Define the essential roles and responsibilities of the clinical faculty.
  • Address the accountability within the faculty.
  • Provide opportunities for community-based faculty input.

I encourage all clinical faculty to make time for this important process, which will provide our clinical faculty with a solid foundation for the academic work of our Department. I am looking forward to discussing this with you all on June 15th.