IAMRA Webinars

IAMRA hosts webinars on a regular basis.  Please check the homepage and Upcoming Events for announcements.  Recordings of the webinars are available to Members in the Members Only section of the website.  For more information on IAMRA or the webinars, please contact the IAMRA Secretariat.

The challenges of regulating cosmetic surgery – how are medical regulators globally dealing with the challenges of regulating the rapidly growing cosmetic surgery? 

September 26, 2023 at 9:00 pm UTC/21:00 UTC. 

It may be helpful for you to reference the Time and Date website to check your local date/time for this event; if you do not see your city listed, try clicking on the link for your continental region listed just above the list of cities. 

Dr. Divine Banyubala, Chief Executive Officer of the Medical and Dental Council, Ghana and member of the IAMRA Board of Directors will be facilitating the webinar. 

Speakers include:

• Jason McHeyzer, National Director, Cosmetic Surgery and Compliance, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

• Dr. Michael Murray, Deputy Registrar, College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, Canada overseeing the accreditation of private facilities at which cosmetic procedures are provided in Canada

• Dr. Sarvam TerKonda, a plastic surgeon affiliated with the Mayo Clinic, past Board Member of the Florida Board of Medicine, and Immediate Past Chair of the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States

For more information on how to register for this event, please contact the IAMRA Secretariat.

Medical regulatory authorities and climate change – do medical regulators have a role in joining efforts to tackle climate change and contribute to environmental sustainability? 

April 12, 2023

Dr. Heidi Oetter, Chair of IAMRA and Registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia facilitated the webinar. 

Speakers included:

• Jane Dancer, Manager, Strategy and Policy, Medical Council of New Zealand

• Sanji Gunasekara, Principal Policy Adviser, Medical Council of New Zealand

• Jane Durkin, Assistant Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, General Medical Council (UK)

• Satinder Kaur, Assistant Director, Facilities, General Medical Council (UK)

Please contact the IAMRA Secretariat for more information.

The Great Covid Reckoning – How are medical regulators responding to the health workforce crisis?  

December 8, 2022

Health systems around the world are dealing with a workforce crisis at an unprecedented scale. Pent up demands for care, shortages of health professionals, a tired and overloaded health workforce, and physicians stepping away from active practice in ever increasing numbers are common across many countries.

Increasingly, governments are expecting MRAs to do more to attract and retain medical practitioners, to address perceived ‘red tape’ in regulatory processes and requirements, and to embrace new models of multi-professional care which have profound implications for the traditional roles of physicians and other health professionals.

How are MRAs responding?

This webinar drew on the experience of IAMRA Board members and other experts in exploring how medical regulators from different countries are dealing with these challenges and looking for opportunities. What is the role of MRAs in supporting the health workforce and how is it changing? How should MRAs respond to the mental health and well-being needs of physicians working in health systems under extraordinary pressure?  Are we witnessing a worrying loss of independence of MRAs as governments increasingly seek to intervene in the work of medical regulation? What are the opportunities for MRAs in this crisis?

This webinar was chaired by IAMRA Board member, Adjunct Professor Martin Fletcher, CEO of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.  Speakers included: 

• IAMRA Chair, Dr. Heidi Oetter, Registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (Canada)
• IAMRA Chair-elect, Mrs. Joan Simeon, CEO of the Medical Council of New Zealand
• IAMRA Immediate Past Chair, Dr. Kgosi Letlape, Former President of the Health Professions Council of South Africa and Former President of the Association of Medical Councils of Africa

Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility and Anti-racism

September 13, 2022

Special guests, Elder Sulksun joined us from British Columbia and Kaitiaki Mana Māori, Richard Tankersley joined us from Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Mrs. Joan Simeon, Chair-elect of IAMRA and Manukura/Chief Executive of the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) and Kiri Rikihana, Manukura Tuarua/Deputy Chief Executive of MCNZ, spoke to the Cultural Safety work they have done in Aotearoa/New Zealand as it relates to practice standards, educational accreditation requirements, and their work with the Māori doctors group.

Dr. Heidi Oetter,  Chair of IAMRA and Registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia spoke about her organization’s commitment to Cultural Safety and Humility and reconciliation on everything from governance and board/ committee education requirements through their review of the complaints processes to make them more accessible and safe for Indigenous people.

Telehealth and Virtual Care - COVID and Beyond

July 28, 2023

The emergence of COVID-19 has resulted in a rapid expansion of the use of technology to deliver health services. Virtual services such as telehealth played an important role in the pandemic planning and response.

The rapid integration of telehealth was an innovative and necessary solution to ensure the ongoing delivery of healthcare. However, with such rapid advancement a need has emerged for increased education, quality assurance, protocols and monitoring.

During this webinar panel members discussed lessons learned through the pandemic and issues that regulators need to pay attention to, as telehealth and virtual care are embedded in the ongoing delivery of healthcare services.   

This webinar was facilitated by Mrs. Joan Simeon, CEO of the Medical Council of New Zealand.  Speakers (in order of introduction):

• Dr. Heidi Oetter, Chair of IAMRA and Registrar, College of Physicians and Surgeons, BC, Canada
• Dr. Ruth Large, Chair, Telehealth Leadership Group, New Zealand
• Dr. Taruna Ikrar, Chair of the Medical Council of Indonesia
• Dr. Humayun "Hank" Chaudhry, President and CEO of the Federation of State Medical Boards in the United States

Duty of Candour

June 22, 2023

Is honesty ever optional?

Patients and their families expect physicians to be open and honest especially when something goes wrong with their healthcare. Indeed, honesty and integrity are key ingredients for a relationship of trust between a doctor and a patient. However, there are too many examples of situations in which honesty, dialogue and openness are not what patients and families experience in the face of something going wrong. Too often there is a defensive response with little information or explanation provided, let alone empathy and support. Is medicine the only profession where honesty is optional?

In this webinar we heard the voices of patients and their advocates arguing for much greater openness among doctors with their patients. We learned about the experience in the United Kingdom of a legislated duty of candour which sits alongside professional obligations.  And we considered how medical regulators can do more to support much greater openness and honesty between doctors and patients and the worldwide movement of patient champions to make this a reality.

Speakers (in order of introduction):

• Ms. Susan Sheridan and Mr. Marty Hatlie, Founding Members of  Patients For Patient Safety (PFPS) US and WHO Patient for Patient Safety Champions
• Ms. Yael Bradbury from the UK General Medical Council, which has developed joint guidance with the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council on the responsibilities of doctors and nurses when things go wrong with patient care

The webinar was chaired by Adjunct Professor Martin Fletcher CEO of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, along with invited reflections from Dr. Hank Chaudhry, President and CEO of the Federation of State Medical Boards.

Misinformation and Challenges to the Independence of Medical Regulation

May 24, 2022

In this webinar, we explored the ways in which medical regulatory authorities (MRAs) around the world are being subjected to external pressure to base their regulatory standards, policies and decisions on misinformation or information that is not evidence-based – a phenomenon particularly apparent in relation to COVID-19.  We also discussed how MRAs might resist this pressure.

Mr. Mark Staz, Management Consultant, Regulatory Policy for the FSMB facilitated this event.  Speakers included Dr. Divine Banyubala, Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, Ghana and Dr. Ken Simons, Immediate Past Chair of the FSMB.

2020-2021 IAMRA Webinars

2020-2021 IAMRA webinar recordings and additional content can be accessed here, and include the following topics:

Disruption in Healthcare and Regulation (May 17, 2021)

Be kinder? The challenge of humanizing medical regulation in a post-COVID world (April 20, 2021)

Physician Health and Wellness (March 29, 2021)

Emerging COVID-19 Challenges for the Safety and Standards of Patient Care (December 10, 2020)

Professional Conduct and Discipline in the Era of COVID-19 (October 28, 2020)

A Guide to Conducting Video Hearings (October 2020)

Registration Assessments in a Pandemic Environment (September 28, 2020)

COVID-19 and the Acceleration of Virtual Care and Virtual Regulation - Lessons and Questions from Canada (August 26, 2020)May 24, 2022

The Medical Regulator's Role in Cultural Safety and Health Equity (August 6, 2020)

ECFMG Response to COVID-19 – Upholding Standards in a Global Pandemic (June 23, 2020)

COVID-19 and The Impact on Medical Regulation (May 20, 2020)