The Sounds of Silence: getting it right in the age of information

September 21, 2018

Hello Doctor, my old friend 
I’ve come to talk with you again 

This is a time of great change for BC doctors, with many issues currently affecting our clinical and personal lives. Cannabis becomes legal on October 17, 2018. Virtual care is causing disruption by improving access to care, but threatening continuity of therapeutic relationships – relationships also threatened by physician shortages, increasing demands on doctors’ time, and the accelerating costs of doing business in BC. All this against the backdrop of preparations for a new Physician Master Agreement. And internally, Doctors of BC is growing into its new governance structure and addressing issues such as equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. 

With all this ongoing work, and given we live in the age of information, avalanches of messaging are pushed to us from social media, email, electronic medical records, and ubiquitous advertising. Just as work expands to fill the time allotted to it, misinformation and disinformation fill the gaps between announcements, often causing undue distress and frustration. 

Sometimes these gaps are intentional, such as when work is ongoing, either within the Association or in our collaborations with government, health authorities, the university, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and patient and other professional groups (to name a few). Other times there are factors beyond our control. For example, in the past month alone I have done many hours of interviews explaining the different aspects of urgent health issues only to have one or few quotes make it into the story, if any at all.   

So given these needs and realities, what can we do to ensure that members are informed about and engaged with issues that matter? 

When there is Doctors of BC news to share we will continue to let you know through President’s Letters, Board Chair reports, President’s Blogs, BCMJ columns, e-newsletters and the website. I will also continue to be available to you in person, by phone, via email and on social media. And you have many points of contact within your Association such as the Board Chair, your Representative Assembly delegates, your Section representatives, and your Regional Advisors and Advocates. I encourage you to send your questions, concerns or comments to any one of us. For those who wish to be even more active, please consider joining a committee and continue responding to our surveys.

We will continue to be active in creating a better future for doctors and the patients and communities we care for; to do this, we need to keep open our different lines of communication and find the truth among the noise and dare disturb the sounds of silence.

- Dr Eric Cadesky


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