It is an honour and a privilege to introduce myself as the new president of your medical staff association—VMDAS—and the VPSA. My fellow officers and I were elected at the annual general meeting earlier this month. Your new board is:

• Dr. Eric Yoshida, President
• Dr. Alison Harris, Vice President
• Dr. Alex Lee, Treasurer
• Dr. Sophia Wong, Secretary
• Dr. Vivian Yin, Member

Together we represent a broad spectrum of specialties from gastroenterology to radiology, thoracic surgery, pathology, and ophthalmology. Our aim, however, is not to represent our areas of expertise but rather to break down these silos and provide a cohesive medical/surgical voice when it comes to matters of engagement.

Several of us have had the chance to participate on various VPSA and VMDAS working groups and all of us believe that members of the medical/surgical staff must have greater input when it comes to working with administration on the delivery of quality patient care. We look forward to advocating for a strong medical/surgical voice in the months ahead as the most recent Doctors of BC Health Authority Engagement Survey indicated there is lots of room to improve the relationship between our medical/surgical members and our health authority.

I would like to thank the most recent members of the VMDAS and VPSA boards for their valuable input in guiding our organizations: President Dr. Simon Rabkin; Vice President and Treasurer Dr. Ryan Paterson; and Past President Dr. Marshall Dahl. Their dedication and hard work have made stepping into our roles much easier.

I look forward to meeting more of you in the coming weeks; we have some very interesting events in January including our Breakfast with Leaders session with Dr. Don Griesdale, the first in our three-part series on My Hospital Footprint, and a CST Townhall that we are co-hosting with VCH.

The very best to you and your families for the holidays.

Sincerely,

Dr. Eric Yoshida, President
VPSA/VMDAS
December 2019