Tackling Medical Imaging Wait Lists and Supporting Our Members Through the Enduring Pandemic
By Dr. Gilles Soulez, CAR President
As we endure another challenging year, the CAR is looking forward to capitalizing on our successes and seeking out new opportunities for advancement. Over the course of the last year, we recognize that our members have had to adapt to the everlasting pandemic and have had to work even harder to provide quality patient care in a much more restrictive fashion.
The additional safety protocols, while necessary, are not helping with the looming wait lists and patients are suffering the effects. We have also heard from our members that radiologists are feeling the burden of logging excessively long hours without the resources, technology, and equipment they need. The CAR is working hard on our members’ behalf to rectify this. In the last year we have met with several MPs, presented before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, and engaged with regional and national media to get our message out.
Our commitment to patients remains the top priority. The CAR continues to advocate on your behalf for federal investment in medical imaging equipment, infrastructure, technology, and health human resources, so that we may better serve Canadians. We are cautiously optimistic as we prepare for the unveiling of the 2022 Federal Budget. We hope the government has heard our concerns and is committed to supporting an investment in medical imaging for patients. We recognize that there are competing priorities given the health challenges we are all facing; however, radiology was significantly impacted with the disruption of the pandemic and wait times for imaging are at an all-time high.
We have also worked hard to provide resources to our members by offering free online education through our learning management system, RAD Academy, and hosted a successful virtual Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in 2021. This has enabled our members to fulfill their Royal College CPD requirements. The decision has also been made to offer the CAR 2022 ASM virtually once again. With the uncertainty of the new Omicron variant and in the interest of safeguarding our members we felt that this was the responsible decision. Even though we are unable to gather in person, CAR 2022 is going to be a stellar event. Under the direction of Dr. Michael Patlas and with the support of the CAR Annual Scientific Meeting Program Committee, our Annual Scientific Meeting will welcome renowned speakers and offer dynamic radiology content. I could not be more excited to participate in this year’s meeting in April and encourage you to take advantage of the early-bird discount.
We are hopeful that larger, in-person gatherings will be possible by 2023 and look forward to connecting with members then.
The radiology community has demonstrated resiliency throughout the pandemic, and because of this we are well positioned to lead the charge for the community in the coming year as we expand on our existing initiatives and undertake new projects.
On behalf of the CAR, I would like to thank all of you, our members, for your support. Countless volunteers have dedicated hours of their time to help draft guidelines, advocate for patients, and undertake lifesaving radiology research. It is because of you that we are making such great strides in the advancement of radiology in Canada. I would also like to acknowledge our corporate partners who have supported us throughout the pandemic and continue to help us deliver on initiatives. We hope that we can count on your continued support for 2022 and beyond.