FROM THE REGISTRAR’S DESK
The invaluable work
of public members
photo: D.W. Dorken
Rocco Gerace, MD
Registrar
The skill set and
technical competencies required of
public members are
high and the work
– while rewarding
– is demanding and
can be emotionally
draining.
I
n the last issue of Dialogue,
we thanked more than
1,370 Ontario physicians
who help keep medical
regulation thriving by participating
in College roles, such as peer assessors. We are deeply appreciative
of the work that these physicians
do. But it is also critical that we all
recognize the equally important
role that public members play in
medical regulation.
At any given time, there are
between 13 to 15 public members
working for the College. They
are appointed by the government
of Ontario and they make a vital
and important contribution to
the work of this College. They are
teachers, lawyers, business people,
scientists, and educators. Some
live in big cities, others live in
small towns across the province.
Their individual and collective
experience provides an invaluable
perspective to medical regulation
and their insights make all our
decisions that much better.
And they work hard. To help put
the workload and role of a Council
member into context, the CPSO
receives approximately 3,000
complaints each year – the highest
volume of any health profession
in Ontario. We ask our public
members to provide a minimum
of 80 days of time per year – an
unusually large amount of time for
a board position.
In addition to serving on the College Council, which meets at least
eight days per year, public members
of Council are also called upon to
serve, and often co-chair, statutory
and operational committees, such
as Discipline, ICR and Finance.
Public members have also served,
over the years, as spokespeople on a
variety of high-profile issues.
The skill set and technical competencies required of public members are high and the work – while
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Issue 1, 2015 Dialogue
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2015-03-19 11:18 AM