VMA and WMA hosting debate July 12 with President Elect candidates

Public

The VMA website, http://vancouvermedicalassociation.ca/ has a notice of a Special Event on July 12, 2017 featuring the candidates for DoctorsOfBC President Elect, Dr Cadesky and Dr Mahy, with Dr Arun Garg as moderator.

The event will be held at the Seasons in the Park at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver with pre-dinner cocktails at 17:30, dinner at 18:30 and the debate from 19:30 to 21:00.

The deadline to register for this event is Wednesday July 5th. I think this will be a very interesting event to attend.

With limited seats available I am happy to have mine confirmed and would encourage others interested in attending in person to get their reservations in as soon as possible to avoid disappointment or the risk of forgetting to register in time with the long weekend almost upon us followed by a short week that is bound to be busy as the deadline to register approaches.

In addition to the upcoming debate both candidates have websites for more information, DrCadesky.com and DrMahy.com

The notice on the VMA website says the event will also be streamed live through a YouTube Channel on the VMA website.

Email circulated by the VMA also included:

**Non-VMA/WMA members will be placed on a waiting list unless joining at the same time as signing up to attend the debate, in which case, they will have priority as with all other VMA/WMA members.

I asked on the doclounge listserv why there is a requirement to join the VMA to attend the debate? What about other doctors, whether they are from Vancouver, New West, Burnaby, the North Shore, Maple Ridge, Surrey or anywhere else in the Province and want to attend in person?

Dr Richard Merchant provided a reply on the doclounge listserv and I also received a courtesy phone call from the VMA explaining to me that the cost of the event and the plans to provide the live stream, as Dr Jim Busser always dreamed and previously brought to doctors in the past the Live Town Hall Telephone Conference debate, are more than the cost of the dinner and the VMA membership dues are needed in addition to sponsors to make this all possible.

I do not begrudge the cost to attend and appreciate the clarification from both the VMA and WMA.

I think the invitation being open to all doctors, members existing and new, is magnanimous and I am happy to know that the costs will facilitate wider accessibility to the debate. I hope the debate will remain online so people unable to see it in person or as a live stream due to on-call ad other commitments can still view it later.

It may be helpful if information about this upcoming event is circulated to doctors in all nearby districts and I encourage all doctors to share this with their colleagues.

I am happy to say I now have my reservation to attend the debate in person confirmed. I'm sure it will be an enjoyable dinner and evening.

I had difficulty with the fillable pdf on http://vancouvermedicalassociation.ca/ and spoke with staff serving the VMA. They were very helpful and are going to look into the issue further.

Meanwhile, I just went ahead and used the .docx attachment provided on the listserv and attached to this post. I then emailed it to vma.manager@gmail.com and received my confirmation shortly afterwards. The extra fields for a second name, food allergies and amount is if you are bringing a guest.

I think this will be an informative and enjoyable evening.

My thanks to the organizers.