Chair’s Message - August 2025

Nominations Now Open: FMNEA Awards of Excellence

The FMNEA Executive Committee is thrilled to announce that nominations are officially OPEN for the 2025 FMNEA Awards of Excellence!

These awards celebrate the incredible work of the administrative staff who support and elevate Family Medicine education across Canada. Let’s recognize their passion, innovation, and impact!

🏆 Award Categories

• Administrator Award of Excellence
  For an individual demonstrating outstanding service, collaboration, and leadership in medical education.

• Team Excellence Award
  For a group of administrators showing exceptional teamwork, communication, and creative problem-solving.

📍 Award Presentation

Winners will be celebrated at the FMNEA Conference, held alongside the CFPC Family Medicine Forum. The FMNEA Awards are supported by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC).

📥 How to Nominate

No letters needed—just complete the quick online form!

• Nominate an Individual

• Nominate a Team

⏰ Deadline: August 29th at 5:00 PM ET

Let’s honour the people who make a difference every day in Family Medicine education. Questions? Reach out to Luz Bolo at [email protected].

We can’t wait to see your nominations!

FMNEA Conference Updates! 🎉 

We’re thrilled to share more details about both our Virtual and In-Person FMNEA Conferences—packed with inspiring content and practical takeaways for administrative professionals in medical education.

🖥️ Virtual Half-Day Conference - Free Registration!

Thursday, October 30, 2025
Featuring incredible speakers:
🎤 Dr. Isla McPherson – “Feedback for Growth: Nurturing Professional Behaviours in Learning”
🎤 Dr. Joan Chan – “Setting Compassionate Boundaries”

Register here to attend the virtual conference on Thurs, Oct 30

The day wraps up with our FMNEA Annual Business Meeting and the presentation of the FMNEA Awards of Excellence. 🏆

🧭 In-Person Conference – Winnipeg

Register for FMNEA and FMF

“Thanks to the support of Family Medicine residency programs across the country, we’re able to keep registration low at just $370 + taxes for Tuesday and Wednesday

November 4–5, 2025

Join us for an energizing two-day event featuring:
🎤 Dr. James Goertzen & Dr. Sarah Newbery – Reprising their FMF 2024 hit: “Co-Creating Psychological Safety on Administrative Teams”

Psychological safety is essential for high-performing teams—it fosters open dialogue, embraces diverse perspectives, and builds a culture where learning and growth thrive. Expect takeaways on:
✅ Setting clear expectations
✅ Practicing situational humility
✅ Expressing appreciation
✅ Destigmatizing failure

🔧 Best Practice Session Spotlight

MASTRing Administrative Resilience: Building a Knowledge Management Tool to Support Medical Education Administrative Teams

Presented by Ms. Renee Barter, Dr. Fanny Hersson-Edery, & Ms. Julie Lane from McGill University.

In this best practice session, Julie Lane shares the journey of developing MASTR, a knowledge-sharing tool designed to build resilience and streamline processes for Family Medicine administrative teams at McGill.

You’ll learn:
✔️ The context and challenges that inspired the tool
✔️ How the MASTR platform was developed and organized
✔️ Content highlights: job aids, process maps, and onboarding tools
✔️ Real-world case examples used for training and consistency

The session concludes with audience Q&A and feedback, offering you the chance to help shape a resource designed for PGME administrators across Canada.

🎉 New to FMNEA Conference🎉 

💬 Got a Niche? Let’s Dive Into Special Interest Groups ! 🤝✨

We’re excited to announce a brand-new addition to the FMNEA In-Person Conference this year! Following the formal program, we’ll be hosting three Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings—created in response to your feedback and designed to foster deeper connections and focused conversations.

We know it can be hard to connect with colleagues across the country on specific topics—so let’s change that! These SIGs offer a dedicated space to share ideas, challenges, and strategies in a smaller, topic-driven format.

🧭 Special Interest Groups Meetings - Wed, November 5 @ 3 p.m.

• Enhanced Skills Interest Group

• Manager & Team Lead Interest Group

• Accreditation Interest Group

Whether you're looking to troubleshoot, network, or share best practices, these sessions are your chance to dig deeper and collaborate with peers who get it.

❓ Got Questions for the CFPC? Let’s Clear Things Up! 🕵️‍♀️✨

Administrators often serve as the vital link between our programs and the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC)—whether it's confirming training dates 📅, sorting out exam eligibility 🧠, or navigating faculty and learner awards 🏆.

But let’s be honest… sometimes CFPC processes feel like a bit of a mystery 🌀.

At our upcoming FMNEA Conference, we’ll be joined by representatives from the CFPC to help demystify the ins and outs of their work—and we want your questions to guide the conversation! 🎤

👉 What’s something you’ve always wondered about CFPC’s role?
👉 What part of the process feels unclear or complicated?

Let’s build a list of practical, real-world questions that will help all of us do our jobs better. 🧩

📥 Submit your questions

Let’s take away the mystery—one good question at a time! 💡🔍

📝 Need Help Registering for the FMNEA Conference? Let’s Walk Through It Together! 👣💻

Having trouble registering? Not sure which steps to follow?

The FMNEA Executive will be hosting a brief walkthrough session in early September to help guide you through the process and answer any questions you may have. It’s quick, informal, and designed to make things easier!

👉 Let us know your availability here:
Register for the walkthrough

We’re here to help—because registering should be the easy part! 😊

📣 FMNEA Conference Registration + Showcase Your University at FMF 2025

Apply now to reserve your exhibit space for FMF happening November 4–5 in Winnipeg!

Looking to highlight your university during FMF 2025? You’re invited to take part in two exciting opportunities:

• Exhibit in the FMF Exhibit Hall (Nov. 5–7)
  Engage with students and residents in the bustling FMF hub—where meals and breaks keep traffic high. Preferred academic rates apply!

• Host a Table at the Student & Resident Reception (Nov. 7)
  Connect in a high-energy, interactive setting alongside CFPC leadership and university partners.

Space is limited—showcase your programs and connect with the next generation of family physicians!

📩 Contact: [email protected] to learn more.

📢 FMNEA WhatsApp Community – Stay Connected Your Way!