President's Message: A Final Thank You, A Continuing Call to Action

Dear colleagues and friends,

Writing my final president's letter to you has given me a wonderful opportunity to pause and to reflect on the past year, which feels like a luxury in this busy season!

For many British Columbians, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season will first come to mind, but as family doctors, you are also no doubt picturing full waiting rooms and long day sheets with the early cold and flu season already upon us. Among the many wins at the BCCFP this year, the provincial government's changes to sick note regulations for short term illnesses feels especially poignant this season. Our continued engagement with political decision makers and policy makers has certainly been a highlight this year, with the Day at the Legislature in May and over 40 meetings with MLAs and their staff. Bringing your voices to tables where decisions about family medicine and primary care are being made has had a meaningful impact this year.

As we look back on this year, we have been honoured to connect with so many of our dedicated family doctors. We've been inspired by the over 700 nominations for family medicine awards. We've launched a new way to recognize and acknowledge the hard work of our colleagues with the Circles of Impact initiative. We've also continued cherished programs like Dinner with Docs where we connect medical learners and seasoned family doctors. It's been a privilege to get to know so many of you through the experiences shared - and that is just so family medicine to me! Connecting through our stories and gaining strength and inspiration from those who have walked the path just ahead of us.

In the latter half of 2025, family medicine faced many challenges across the country. Threats to the cores of medical decision making: physician autonomy and physician-patient relationships. Threats to high quality primary care as attachment has been prioritized over meaningful access to care. Threats to equity in medical education. Ensuring British Columbians continue to have access to excellent care provided by family physicians will take co-ordinated action by the BCCFP and our partner organizations - it's common ground we can all agree on! But even more than our organizations working on our behalf, we also each have an obligation to participate in this work.

Sharing your opinions and experiences with the BCCFP. Taking your patients' stories and challenges to your member of parliament. Teaching the next generation of medical learners what it means to practice family medicine and why it matters so much! There are as many ways to be involved as there are family doctors in BC! How we engage will look different each of us- but the circles of impact we create when we are willing to share our knowledge and experience create ripples that will be felt across the province.

It's been an amazing year this year! I have been so honoured to be your president this year but so much of the credit for our successes belong to our dedicated Board of Directors, to our skilled and hard-working staff, and especially to you, our members who inspire us every day! I'm very proud of what we've achieved together this year - and very excited about the next steps we will take together in 2026.

Dr. Katherine Bell, MD, CCFP
President