About
The Okanagan Charter Collaborative (OCC) was created as part of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada’s (AFMC) Culture of Academic Medicine Initiative (CAMi). According to an environmental scan by the AFMC, there are significant concerns about the culture of academic medicine, including issues of racism, sexism and ableism, and a need to develop more inclusive and psychologically safe learning and working environments within medicine. Levels of distress, burnout and suicidal thinking are concerningly high and have been rising in recent years among Canadian physicians and medical trainees, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, these challenges are not wholly unique to physicians as other health care professionals face similar challenges.
Finding ways to reduce physician burnout and mental health symptoms and to increase professional engagement and satisfaction has never been more important, given the potential impact of burnout on the professional and personal lives of physicians and trainees, the effects on other healthcare providers and team function, and ultimately the impact on patient care. It has been recognized that to do so requires a focus at the individual and systemic levels. Using a metaphor of frogs in a pond: if most of the frogs in a pond are struggling or unwell, we must look beyond the individual frogs and look at the pond, or the environments in which the frogs are living, to understand and address the systemic issues which are contributing to their problems.
Background
In early 2022, Dr. Paul O’Byrne, Dean & Vice-President of the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Chair of the McMaster Okanagan Committee, suggested to his fellow deans of medicine across Canada that implementing the Okanagan Charter as a guiding principle to improve health and well-being across faculties of medicine at their institutions could be an important first step in dealing with critical issues. The Deans of the 17 Canadian medical schools unanimously voted to endorse the Okanagan Charter as a guiding document and tasked CAMi to assemble a group of representatives from across Canada to examine how to best implement the Charter.
The first meeting of the Okanagan Charter Collaborative (OCC) was held on October 3, 2022 in Ottawa, Ontario. The OCC has representatives from all 17 faculties of medicine as well as a patient representative, a LGBTQ2S+ representative and graduate student representative, and members of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS), Black Physicians of Canada, Indigenous Physician Association of Canada (IPAC) and Canadian Association of Physicians with Disabilities (CAPD).
Ongoing Efforts
The mandate of the OCC is to develop resources and share best practices to enable the implementation of the Okanagan Charter within Canadian Faculties of Medicine. Since the first meeting, the OCC has met a few times a year virtually, as well as in person annually during the International Congress of Academic Medicine (ICAM) conference. The most recent meeting was held in early April 2024 in Vancouver, BC. The McMaster University representative is Lynn Armstrong, Administrator of the McMaster Okanagan Office of Health & Well-being.
The OCC has developed and introduced an audit tool to members of the collaborative to take stock of the resources and processes in place within the Canadian Faculties of Medicine that support faculty and learner well-being, and to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement within the faculties. This tool will be an important first step to creating a plan for well-being within Canadian academic medicine.
Related Websites
The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) Visit AFMC Website
Founded in 1943, AFMC represents all 17 of Canada’s medical schools and is the voice of academic medicine for all of Canada. It is a registered charity that works to represent and support the mandates of the Canadian medical faculties, including their research, education and clinical care.
International Conference on Academic Medicine (ICAM) Visit ICAM Website
ICAM is an international conference held annually in Canada providing opportunities for networking and sharing of scholarly work in medical education, well-being and other areas across academic medicine. It brings together clinicians, educators, leaders, administrators, learners and researchers in order to share ideas, discuss pressing questions in academic medicine and bring us closer to a healthier tomorrow.
Culture of Academic Medicine Initiative (CAMi) Visit CAMi Website
CAMi is the name of AFMC’s response to the high rates of burnout within academic medicine. One of the first actions of this initiative was to endorse the Okanagan Charter. The CAMi website also offers access to webinars, podcasts and academic papers related to professional well-being. The themes are compassion, equity, respect, safe spaces and self-care.