President's Corner

03 April 2008

Good day to everyone;

I hope March finds all well.  We continue to experience exciting times with CAPA.  Over the last few months CAPA representatives have met with interest groups in Alberta and Nova Scotia as well as with NCCPA, the American Certification Organization.  We have held a Board of Directors meeting where the newly elected board members were introduced to CAPA activities, issues and governance requirements. 

At our December board meeting we commissioned a working group to review our national constitution, which continues to be a work in progress; we hope to be able to present our new constitution at our national meeting in Halifax.  We also commissioned a working group to develop a proper and complete CAPA history.  We have identified which conference activities we will focus on over the next year and have confirmed a date, time and location for our next annual conference; we hope to see everyone in Halifax in Sept 08.  We worked with the CMA to produce a calendar to celebrate 70 years of accreditation activities; this calendar identifies the physician assistant profession by name.

We have many important meetings coming up over the next 4-6 months. The increasing number of articles being produced on the physician assistant profession, many of which can be viewed on the CAPA website, suggests that we have a very exciting future in store. 

You have hopefully seen our upgraded website by now; we hope you find it more user-friendly. I would like to thank our office manager for his outstanding efforts. I would also like to remind everyone that it’s now time to renew your membership; as of 1 April 08 we are into the new membership year.  Don’t forget to encourage your fellow PAs to take a look at our website and consider membership. 

I must also offer my heart felt thanks to those Board members who completed their time with the Board and have stepped aside for now.  Without these dedicated, hard working members our organization could not possibly have moved ahead as much as we have. 

To those who participated in the recent elections and were unsuccessful I say thank you. I would ask you to not be disheartened by your loss but take heart that democracy is alive and well.  I also would offer a challenge that you continue your efforts for election to the board; this process only makes us stronger as a whole. From the unprecedented number of candidates to the voting turnout, CAPA really has entered a new era of participation and increased energy. To those board members newly elected I say welcome and I look forward to working with you for the rest of my term.  

Cheers.

Maurice Chapman

President CAPA