Canada passes up National Doctors' Day opportunity

March 30 came and went in Canada with nary a whisper of the admirable American decision to mark that day as National Doctors' Day, to recognize the efforts of the physician workforce.

"National Doctor's Day is an opportunity to recognize these physicians - the ones who have helped us when we were sick, the ones who have delivered our children, and the ones who have helped us remain healthy through immunizations, screenings and other means," announced Dr Ronald M Davis, the president of the American Medical Association, on March 30.

Now, I'm typically the last person to advocate for yet another greeting-card holiday, but doesn't National Doctors' Day seem like a good idea? So why hasn't Canada caught on? I'm not sure; it would be quite easy. In the United States, the day was designated as such by legislation in both houses of Congress in 1990. With a bunch of active and energetic physicians in our Parliament here, why shouldn't we expect the government to establish a National Doctors' Day? I even have a suggestion of what day it should fall on in Canada: July 12, the birthday of our most celebrated physician, Sir William Osler.

2008 may have come and gone already with no National Doctors' Day, but hope is not lost, fellow Canadians! The Upper Ottawa Valley Medical Recruitment Committee, though admittedly not a hotbed of national physician organization, nevertheless appears to have this year become the first group of Canadians to celebrate National Doctors' Day on March 30.

"We are fortunate to have an outstanding group of skilled and dedicated physicians and other healthcare professionals available to serve the inpatient, outpatient and specialty needs of our community," Debbie Robinson, the chairwoman of the committee, told The Daily Observer, "and by choice or by chance, each of us may find that because of a caring physician, our lives have been profoundly improved.

"Doctors' Day serves as a reminder to all of us to be thankful for the care we've received and to thank our doctors for all that they do."

Now the rest of the country has only to follow their example.

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