You Asked for It …You Got It!
by Maureen Clement MD CCFP
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At the last Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) / Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (CSEM) Professional Conference and Annual Meetings in Toronto, in October, it was felt that regular communication from the Clinical & Scientific Section (C&SS) of the CDA would be a good idea—so here it is! A big thank you to Dr. Sara Meltzer for taking the lead as Editor-in-Chief. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Robin Conway, Dr. Ron Goldenberg, Dr. Ravi Ratnakarn and Dr. Catherine Yu for being on the editorial board. C&SS Connect will allow the Executive committee to communicate with all of the C&SS members across Canada. It is our hope that this newsletter helps you stay connected with current C&SS matters. We would encourage you to send us your feedback, comments, ideas or suggestions by email at
What does the Clinical & Scientific Section of the CDA do?
Networks
• Represents clinicians and scientists on the CDA National Board (chair) and various councils and committees concerned with advocacy, service, professional development and research.
• Maintains a close liaison with the Diabetes Educator Section (DES) of the CDA in the above areas.
Promotes Optimal Clinical Care
• Leads in revision of CDA Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada.
Encourages Education and Research
• Helps organize and plan the annual CDA/CSEM Professional Conference and Annual Meeting.
• Organizes continuing medical education activities in diabetes mellitus for clinicians and scientists.
• Works with DES members to develop tool kits to disseminate guideline themes.
Presents Annual Recognition Awards
• The Young Scientist Award for outstanding research conducted in Canada by young scientists in the field of diabetes.
• The Gerald S. Wong Service Award to a physician in recognition of their significant contribution to the diabetes community.
• The Lifetime Achievement award bestowed upon a prominent Canadian MD or PhD medical scientist for longstanding contribution to the Canadian diabetes community and as a leader in diabetes research.
Who runs C&SS?
The C&SS is run by an executive committee. The committee is composed of a Chair, Past Chair, Vice Chair Clinical, Vice Chair Scientific and a Secretary/ Treasurer. There are also up to 9 councilors.
Who is on the Executive Committee and what do they do?
Chair: Maureen Clement MD CCFP
Past Chair: Vincent Woo MD FRCPC
Vice Chair, Clinical: Jay Silverberg MD FACP FRCPC
Vice Chair, Scientific: Minna Woo MD FRCPC PhD
Secretary/ Treasurer: Ron Sigal MD MPH FRCPC
Councillors:
Rejeanne Gougeon PhD
Robin Conway MD
Onil Bhattacharyya MD PhD
Ian Blumer MD FRCPC
Doreen Rabi MD FRCPC MS
Peter Senior MBBS PhD
Ronald Goldenberg MD FRCPC FACE
Ravi Retnakaran MD MSc FRCPC
Catherine Yu MD MHSc
Member at large:
Alice Cheng MD FRCPC: Chair 2013 Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee
Association diabète Québec representative:
Celine Huot MD FRCPC
Chief Medical Advisor: Dr. Janet Hux. This is a new position for the CDA. Dr. Hux started with the CDA in May, this year, and will be working closely with the C&SS in the new role. She will be providing the CDA advice on scientific activities including: research‚ medical information‚ and professional education.
You can get more information about the qualifications and roles in the fall issue of C&SS Connect.
How can you join or renew your membership?
You can join or renew online at https://apps.diabetes.ca/CSS/
How do you join the Executive?
Each spring nomination forms are available to all C&SS members with notice of the number of vacancies that need to be filled. Any C&SS member may be nominated by submitting a nomination form. A slate of potential candidates will be compiled by the nominating committee, made up of past C&SS chairs. Two months prior to the annual meeting ballots are sent to members who must send in their votes. The results are announced at the annual meeting in October.
What are the advantages of joining the Clinical & Scientific Section?
As a C&SS member, you will be connected with other practitioners with an interest in diabetes. You will also receive a discounted registration rate for the CDA/ CSEM Professional Conference and Annual Meetings, as well as, annual subscriptions to the Canadian Journal of Diabetes and Diabetes Dialogue.
The Canadian Journal of Diabetes (CJD) is a high impact, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal for diabetes healthcare professionals. CJD contains original articles, resource reviews, a journal watch and various other shorter articles.CJD is now published, by Elsevier, six times a year. It currently ranks 45 out of 116 Endocrinology & Metabolism journals, with an impact factor of 3.286.
Stay up to date with C&SS activities by visiting us online. On our website we post news of clinical interest and position statements that the C&SS have developed. There is a members only section, where we soon hope to share best practices, tools and algorithms for managing diabetes. Check out Dr. Alice Cheng’s update on the 2013 CDA Clinical Practice Guidelines in this newsletter.
Dr. Bray Paty is the C&SS co-chair for this year’s CDA /CSEM Professional Conference and Annual Meetings, in Vancouver. That will be held October 10 – 13, 2012. Dr. Paty and his committee are putting together an excellent line up of speakers. Click here to register online.
Again, I want to thank everyone who was involved in creating C&SS Connect and developing this first issue. I hope C&SS members find it helpful, and I look forward to hearing your feedback. Have a safe and happy summer, and you will see the next issue in the Fall.