Editorial Canadian Association of Gastroenterology...

EditorialCanadian Association of Gastroenterology:Strategic Plan 2016–2020

Derek McKay,1 David Armstrong,2 Daniel Sadowski,3 Nicola Jones,4

Wallace MacNaughton,1 and Paul Sinclair5

1University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 4N12McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4K13University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T5H 3V94University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 1X85Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, Oakville, ON, Canada L6J 7W5

Correspondence should be addressed to Paul Sinclair; [email protected]

Received 6 April 2016; Accepted 12 April 2016

Copyright © 2016 Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.This open-access article is distributed under the terms of theCreativeCommons Attribution Non-Commercial License (CC BY-NC), which permits reuse, distribution, and reproduction of the article,provided that the original work is properly cited and the reuse is restricted to noncommercial purposes.

The CAG is a professional organization that seeks to promotethe discipline of gastroenterology in Canada and internation-ally through a series of activities aligned with a Strategic Plan(renewed and updated every five years) in order to advanceourmandate of (i) supporting and engaging in the study of theorgans of the digestive tract in health and disease, (ii) promot-ing the advancement of the science and art of gastroenterol-ogy by providing leadership in patient care, research, educa-tion, and continuing professional development (CPD), and(iii) promoting andmaintaining the highest ethical standards(https://www.cag-acg.org/about/what-is-the-cag/).

Structurally, the Board of Directors (President, President-Elect, Past President, VP Treasurer, and VP Secretary)provides oversight governance of the CAG, while opera-tional functions are performed by the Executive Director,the CAG National Office Staff, and five Vice-Presidents(Administrative Affairs, Clinical Affairs, Education Affairs,Quality Affairs, and Research Affairs (Operations Committee(OC))). The OC recruits CAGmembers to serve on standingcommittees or dedicated taskforces directed towards imple-mentation of CAG’s Strategic Plan. The Canadian DigestiveHealth Foundation (CDHF) is the CAG’s Foundation withthe CAG Board members being the only voting membersof the CDHF [1]. The CAG Board provides oversight andgeneral direction to the CDHFGoverning Board of Directorsto ensure alignment with the CAG’s Strategic Plan.

With a new governance structure in place, the 2010–2015Strategic Plan was implemented with remarkable success aspresented in the CAG news page [2]. For instance, surveysof perceived learning needs of the membership identifiedthe need for improved quality in endoscopic skills andendoscopic teaching of trainees. This led to the developmentof the highly successful Skills Enhancement in Endoscopy©(SEE©) programme that will be a flagship programme foryears to come. Similarly, education is a major componentof the CAG mandate and CAG as an accrediting bodyis a recognized leader in accreditation amongst nationalassociations/societies in Canada. Canadian Digestive Dis-eases Week� is the flagship educational event for CAG, incollaboration with the CASL, with increasing numbers ofdelegates each year.

The CAG Board and OC exist solely to serve the needsof the members of the CAG; the CAG provides regularupdates on the CAG and the CDHF activities by monthlyemails to all members (e-blasts), a frequently updatedwebsite(https://www.cag-acg.org/), an annual report, and reportingat the annual general meeting at CDDW. Communicationwith the membership is central to the success of the CAG.At the outset of the 2010–2015 CAG Strategic Plan a cross-cutting communication strategy was introduced to ensurethat the membership is informed about all the CAG activitiesand that the leadership of the CAG receives input from all

Hindawi Publishing CorporationCanadian Journal of Gastroenterology and HepatologyVolume 2016, Article ID 5301452, 3 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5301452

2 Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

constituencies within the membership: clinicians, clinicianscientists, discovery researchers, trainees, junior staff, andestablished academics or practitioners.

Over the last fifteenmonths, the CAG Board has solicitedopinions from the membership (two surveys, individual dis-cussions), the Past-Presidents Council, and the OC regarding(1) the CAG’s areas of strengths and weakness, (2) concernsrelating to career opportunities and development, clinicalpractice, and research, and (3) the future of gastroenterologyin Canada. Integrating this information and building onthe success of 2010–2015 Strategic Plan, the CAG Board ispleased to present a roadmap for the continued success ofthe organization that will be operationalized in the 2016–2020CAG Strategic Plan.

Before outlining the plan, the CAG Board takes thisopportunity to communicate directly with the CAGmember-ship: the CAG is your association and as a volunteer orga-nization, its success and productivity depend on you. Thereare many ways to get involved and support the association;we encourage you to be proactive and contact the NationalOffice if you have an area of interest and to contribute if youare asked to assist with an initiative. Finally, the Strategic Planis an evolving document and we would appreciate your inputnow or at any time over the next five years.

Goal 1. The CAG and the CDHF will continue to advocatefor and facilitate the development of a renewed, larger,and forward-looking vision of digestive healthcare and will,where appropriate, partner with allied digestive healthcarestakeholders to deliver on this goal.This will be accomplishedby

(i) enhancing public awareness of digestive health anddeveloping communications strategy, involvingCAG’s foundation, the CDHF, that will keep digestivehealth issues in the public eye and on the agenda ofstakeholders;

(ii) working with national and provincial associations toidentify the Canadian burden of GI illness, challengesfacing the gastroenterologist, and workforce issuesthat are critical to optimal delivery of patient care;

(iii) being recognized as a leader in the development ofdigestive healthcare policy at a national level.

Goal 2.TheCAGwill focus on attracting newmembers whileengaging, retaining, and adding value for the existing mem-bership of gastroenterologists, digestive health researchers,and the digestive health constituency by

(i) developing and maintaining a data base of digestivehealth service providers;

(ii) ascertaining and addressing the needs of the digestivehealth services constituency;

(iii) anticipating the need for and leading in the imple-mentation of modifications to training and CME toensure the members are prepared for the changinglandscape of digestive health;

(iv) identifying and implementing strategies to supportdevelopment of clinician scientists;

(v) facilitating acquisition of leadership skills andencouraging diversity in the CAG leadership andmembership.

Goal 3. The CAG will be the preeminent accredited providerof continuing education for our members and other digestivehealthcare providers to improve the quality of digestivehealthcare for all Canadians by

(i) incorporating the principles of competency-basedmedical education into the identification of perceivedand unperceived gaps in learners’ knowledge andskills;

(ii) working with key partners and stakeholders to definecompetencies and standards required for the deliveryof high quality digestive healthcare;

(iii) developing innovative strategies, including point-of-care monitoring and network-based evaluation ofhealthcare delivery, tomeasure the quality of digestivehealthcare across Canada;

(iv) keeping pace with the evolving discipline and practiceof gastroenterology to ensure that CAG membersare provided with world-class educational events andopportunities for skills enhancement in research andclinical practice;

(v) continuing to develop and publish authoritative,evidence-based guidelines to support the delivery ofhigh quality digestive healthcare;

(vi) becoming a key provider of knowledge transferthrough the effective and appropriate delivery andevaluation of educational programs;

(vii) facilitating the maintenance of certification programthrough a simple, integrated, and streamlined system.

Goal 4.The CAGwill place a high priority on supporting andfacilitating discovery and clinical research during trainingand directly supporting individual investigators, teams, andnetworks. This will be accomplished by

(i) targeting efforts from the CAG and the CDHF tosupport existing strengths in Canada in discoverybiomedical research and to develop and expandexpertise in patient-oriented/directed research andhealth economics and policy by supporting trainees(students, postdoctoral fellows, and residents) andby providing operating grants and career supportawards;

(ii) developing an infrastructure to facilitate team- andnetwork-based research to capitalize on perceivedfuture funding opportunities and development of apan-Canadian network that can integrate and opti-mize the combined and synergistic efforts of clinicaland basic scientists;

Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 3

(iii) supporting and promoting clinical researchers, pro-viding directed and targeted support to enhance theirchances of success, and working to help overcomethe barriers that can forestall the critical contributionthat such individuals make to the advances in thediscipline in gastroenterology;

(iv) aligning with partners to ensure that research out-comes are transmitted to the appropriate stakeholdersand that knowledge is transferred in a timely fashionto elicit increased awareness of the burden of digestivedisease and the mechanisms of digestive disease andto advance the pace at which discoveries can beimplemented to enhance patient care.

Goal 5. The CAG will anticipate and plan for future develop-ments in digestive healthcare. Specific steps will be taken toensure that our members have access to appropriate training,new therapies, and technology to better care for our patients.This will be accomplished through

(i) monitoring of emerging areas such as nutrition,the microbiome, “big data,” novel therapeutics anddiagnostic technologies;

(ii) fostering collaborative research and member/traineeeducation in emerging areas;

(iii) assessing the effectiveness of new technologies andproviding expert guidance regarding utilization;

(iv) encouraging cooperation between payers and indus-try to ensure optimal patient access to new therapeu-tics;

(v) utilizing the power of emerging information technol-ogy to accelerate the transition frombench to bedside.

The CAG has had many remarkable successes to date.Implementation of the new five-goal plan will keep theCAG at the forefront of gastroenterology in Canada withan increasing presence on the international stage. There aresignificant challenges ahead including shrinking funds forresearch; changing directives from the RCPSC and physiciancompetency regulations; changing interactions with phar-maceutical and not-for-profit agencies; and the introductionof new technologies for training and for enhancing patientcare. The CAG 2016–2020 Strategic Plan recognizes thesechallenges and works to the CAG’s established strengthswithin a vision that the CAGwill remain the leading providerof accredited educational activities in gastroenterology inCanada and is looking to the future to ensure that themembership is aware of innovations in the field that willimpact training and the discipline of gastroenterology (e.g.,new diagnostics, diet and nutrition, and microbiome inhealth and disease). Within this Strategic Plan, the activitiesof the CDHF, interactions with our established (and new)partners, and a constant vigilance on quality initiatives willbe cornerstone activities.

The CAG 2016–2020 Strategic Plan is determined bythe CAG Mission Statement, builds on the strengths andachievements of past strategic plans, and is visionary with

a view for the future (e.g., development of research networks)but also sets tangible and achievable goals. Achieving thesegoals demands commitment and dedication from the CAGleadership and membership. The CAG Board of Directorswelcome all comments from the CAG membership on theactivities of the CAG and the implementation of this StrategicPlan: a plan that can be both flexible and responsive to meetthe needs of the members and changes within the Canadianlandscape as they relate to gastroenterological research, thepractice of gastroenterology, the care of patients, and thepromotion of digestive health.

Derek McKayDavid ArmstrongDaniel Sadowski

Nicola JonesWallace MacNaughton

Paul Sinclair

References

[1] D. McKay, D. Armstrong, D. Sadowski, S. Daniels, and P. Sin-clair, “The Canadian Association of Gastroenterology strategicplan: where are we in 2014?” Canadian Journal of Gastroenterol-ogy and Hepatology, vol. 28, no. 11, pp. 580–581, 2014.

[2] D. McKay and R. Fedorak, “CAG news page,” Canadian Journalof Gastroenterology and Hepatology, vol. 28, no. 11, pp. 579–579,2014.

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