Aman Nijjar, MD, MPH, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Message
Hello ACP colleagues and friends,
I hope you and your families are staying sane and safe.
It has been some kind of crazy three months! I am sure all of you are feeling grateful for the combination of public health leadership, cooperation among all British Columbians, and whatever luck fell upon us to avoid worst case scenarios. As we head into summer, we are hopeful for the continued reduction in transmission and the knowledge that we are preparing for whatever comes next.
I was hoping my first American College of Physicians newsletter would be filled with anecdotes and experiences from the Internal Medicine Meeting in Los Angeles. We were looking forward to seeing our BC resident delegation of Drs. Brandon Tang, Alec Windt, and Jonathan Williams, compete in the Doctor's Dilemma. Understandably, all in-person meetings were cancelled and ACP immediately refunded 100% of fees.
For now, I will fill this newsletter with gratitude for my predecessor, Dr. Mike Kenyon, who has been a fantastic leader for ACP and BC. Many of you know Mike and have learned a great deal from him. It is an honour and privilege to follow in his footsteps and I am so happy to have him remain on the Council as Treasurer.
I am also filled with gratitude with the incredible work I have seen among my Internal Medicine colleagues. When times were frightening and uncertain, we stepped up to take care of patients and each other. At my home institution, Vancouver General Hospital, a 4-person deep back-up call schedule was created through the hard work of our local leadership and the spirit of those who volunteered. That good will has sustained all of us and allowed us to learn from one another during these challenging months.
As I start to plan for this upcoming year, I am finding that ACP continues to be a vital resource in my work. It's COVID guides are evidence-based and easy to navigate in the deluge of information we are facing. I've also found ACP advocacy and policies have direct relevance to what we are doing in British Columbia, whether it is dealing with telehealth pay parity or how to ensure access to adequate health care while still mitigating COVID risk.
Lastly, we would like to get your input on holding the Rocky Mountain Medicine Conference virtually. If you could take a few seconds to complete this survey,it would be greatly appreciated!
I hope over my term as governor, I will have the opportunity to meet many of you (either in person or virtually) and expand ACP's presence in BC. My first foray with ACP was as a medical student and one of the winners of the Abstract Competition. It got me a paid trip to the meeting in New Orleans and a window into the wide world of Internal Medicine. I'm eager to introduce ACP to medical students and residents at our distributed sites province-wide. And I'd like to explore how ACP can help each of you and perhaps if any of you would like to help ACP. Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to be involved. Aman.Nijjar@vch.ca
I'll end with the words of our most famous BC physician, Dr. Bonnie Henry
Be kind, be calm, be safe.
Aman Nijjar
ACP Governor British Columbia Chapter