As of April 5, 2008, Dr. Jeff Kolbasnik of Milton, Ontario succeeded Dr. Angus Maciver as O.A.G.S. President. Although Dr. Maciver remains on the executive in the capacity of O.A.G.S. Past President, we would like to take this oportunity to thank him for his time and effort over the last five years. Dr. Philip Barron also continues to act as OMA Section Chair on General Surgery. Aside from these differences, both the OAGS and the OMA Section on General Surgery share the same executive.
During the same meeting in Toronto, the OAGS executive made a slight change to its board of directors. Dr. Chris Vinden of London is Vice President; Dr. Suru Chande of Morrisburg remains the Treasurer; Dr. Peter Willard of Welland is Interim Secretary. The remaining board members are directors at large and will continue to strive to represent and serve its membership as they commence their terms again this year. Click here for more information.
The Ontario Association of General Surgeons (O.A.G.S.) is a non-profit organization that represents general surgeons throughout the province of Ontario. It was originally created in May of 1995 out of the necessity for an independent organization to represent and articulate the concerns of general surgeons within the structure of the Ontario Medical Association. The OMA Section Chair at that time, Dr. Ciaran Kealy of Sudbury, and his executive spearheaded this splinter group with the important objective of the O.A.G.S. to be that of liaison with other groups that will affect the practice of general surgery in the province.
We continue to anticipate the renewed support of almost 250 general surgeons this year - holding a status of either Active, Inactive (no longer billing OHIP), or Resident. Concerns and suggestions of both members and non-members are put forth to our 14 member board directors - all of whom are general surgeons from across the province and volunteer their time and effort to our cause.
Our organization continues to seek the support of all general surgeons in the province of Ontario. The O.A.G.S. feels it has been contributing a service to general surgeons for the past 13 years. The association played an integral role in lobbying for call remuneration for Ontario's surgical sections several years ago. As a result, we have been quite successful in achieving an elevated profile. During the last round of negotiations, we lobbyied both the OMA as well as the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care during the stagnant 2004-05 contract negotiations - primarily for improvements to incredibly long waiting lists for surgery in this province. We will continue to do so during the 2008 negotiations as well.
The O.A.G.S. does more than benefit the interests of our own membership, however. We like to think we contribute a lot to our patients and society on the whole. In the spring of 1998, we played a supportive role with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). We helped to raise awareness for a new decision aid for Ontario women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Making Choices About the Removal of My Breast Cancer: What Do I Prefer? helped women make a choice between a lumpectomy or mastectomy, allowing them to take a more active role when consultiing with their physicians. The O.A.G.S. publicly endorsed this aid and encouraged all general surgeons, who do the majority of these cases across the province, to stock the materials and distribute them appropriately.
In addition to this, the O.A.G.S. has also actively taken part in workshops to review recommendations by Cancer Care Ontario and the Ontario Breast Assessment Collaborative Group pertaining to such screening programs in the areas of colo-rectal, pancreatic and breast cancer respectively.
More and more groups are looking to our organization for our opinion and support, and we appreciate the opportunity to become more involved in the decision-making necessary to improve the health of Ontario.