Leader / Manager | Medical Council of Canada
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Leader / Manager

As leaders and managers, physicians are integral participants in health care organizations. They organize and manage personal and professional practices, and contribute to the delivery of high-quality health care through clinical, administrative, and other activities.

Description

Physicians are engaged with co-workers, resources, and organizations and are involved with processes and policies. They must also balance work with their personal lives. Physicians must have the ability to set priorities, effectively execute tasks collaboratively with colleagues and make appropriate choices when allocating limited health care resources. Physicians also assume leadership roles in terms of patient safety and quality improvement, the aim of which is to provide the highest quality health care.

The 2015 CanMEDs role revisions were changed by the Royal College from Manager to Leader, reducing the number and broadening the scope of the objectives to include an emphasis on quality assurance and patient safety. In order to be effective and actionable in terms of both personal and professional activities, the MCC has retained the Manager objectives, while adding objectives on quality assurance and patient safety.

Objectives

  1. Effectively manage practice and career
    1. Be able to fulfill, both as resident and in subsequent practice, the obligations and responsibilities of patient care including finances and human resources, where relevant.
    2. Abide by the regulatory requirements governing medical office practice (maintenance of patient records, guidelines concerning prescriptions, especially narcotics)
    3. Demonstrate leadership on health care teams and contribute to high-quality patient care by enhancing patient safety.
    4. Avoid conflicts of interest by maintaining ethical relations with the industry, suppliers and other medically relevant groups.
    5. Employ information technology as appropriate for patient care and practice management.
    6. Utilize strategies to balance their professional and personal lives and access available support services if professional competence is compromised.
    7. Adopt strategies for self-improvement and maintenance of competence.
    8. Set priorities and manage time effectively in both their professional and personal lives.
  2. Allocate health care resources effectively
    1. Utilize all health resources (e.g. human, diagnostic, therapeutic) prudently and economically.
    2. Utilize all health resources equitably and without bias or discrimination.
    3. Manage limited health resources in an ethical and informed manner, while balancing individual and societal needs.
  3. Participate appropriately in the health care system
    1. Know the fundamental principles of the Canada Health Act
    2. Describe the structure, function and financing of the Canadian health care system at the federal, provincial/territorial and local levels.
    3. Describe the roles of physicians in developing and supporting the health care system (including health and prevention, advocacy groups, regulatory bodies, professional associations).
    4. Contribute to the delivery of high-quality health care services by:
      1. advocating for and participating in quality improvement.
      2. promoting and practicing a culture of patient safety.

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* Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada