To my physician, resident and medical school colleagues across Canada:
During my Canadian Medical Association presidency and while serving with the executive at the CMA, I believe we initiated some major changes to help plan a vibrant future for the association as well as for health and health care in Canada.
But much of that work pales in comparison to the great news just announced regarding the decision to sell MD Financial Management. While I am sure many of you were taken by surprise by this news I want to assure you I think this is great news not only for MD’s current and future clients, but also for the health care system as a whole.
There are a number of points that I think need to be emphasized about the announcement:
• MD is being preserved as a distinct entity, along with the full MD team so physician-clients will remain in great hands.
• Scotiabank is committed to preserving the culture and philosophy that exists at MD and advisors will remain on salary.
• Scotiabank has also committed to matching or reducing existing pricing on their financial planning services.
• Looking ahead, physicians, their families and employees will have access to more services including retail banking.
• Medical students, residents and early career physicians will also benefit from more tailored services, including highly competitive line of credit offerings, financial literacy seminars and training, travel assistance for CaRMS interviews, and much more.
But perhaps bigger news is that CMA will be opening the doors to MD so all physicians and their families and not just CMA members can benefit from MD’s expertise and support. The move also means that starting in 2019, the CMA will be waiving membership fees for students, residents and retired physicians, and reducing fees to $195 for practising physicians.
With the medical profession currently under immense pressure, the decision means the CMA can focus on uniting physicians and their patients to pursue new initiatives to support physician health, kickstart medical careers, and address some of the biggest challenges in Canadian health such as seniors care.
Once you have had an opportunity to absorb the details of the agreement, I’m confident you will agree that the CMA made this decision in the best interest of MD clients, and all Canadian physicians. With these changes, the association will be ideally positioned to work with members and all Canadians on issues that matter most to them.
Dr. Chris Simpson 