Dr. Chris Simpson of Kingston New President-Elect at the Canadian Medical Association Annual Meeting

CALGARY, Aug. 20, 2013 /CNW/ - Dr. Chris Simpson was acclaimed president-elect of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) today during the association's 146^th annual meeting in Calgary. Dr. Simpson takes over the role of president-elect from Dr. Louis Francescutti, the new CMA president.

"I am very impressed with the Canadian Medical Association's health care transformation initiative and the association's recent efforts to engage Canadians in the discussion on the social determinants of health on a national level," said Dr. Simpson. "I am honored to have been selected by my peers as CMA's president-elect for 2013-2014."

Born in Moncton, Dr. Simpson attended medical school at Dalhousie University in Halifax and obtained his MD in 1992. He subsequently completed internal medicine and cardiology training at Queen's University in Kingston, followed by a Heart and Stroke Foundation Clinical and Research Fellowship in Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Simpson founded the Heart Rhythm Program at Kingston General Hospital in 1999 and served as the first president of the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society. Currently, he is professor of medicine and chief of cardiology at Queen's University, as well as medical director of the Cardiac Program at the partner hospitals of Kingston General Hospital and Hotel Dieu.

Dr. Simpson's primary non-clinical professional interest is health policy, particularly access to care and wait times. He serves as the chair of the Wait Time Alliance and as chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society's (CCS) Standing Committee on Health Policy and Advocacy.

In addition, Dr. Simpson is the lead for the Southeast (Ontario) Local Health Integration Network Cardiovascular Roadmap Project. He also serves on the executive of the CCS, on the Cardiac Care Network of Ontario board of directors, and is an American College of Cardiology governor.

Within the CMA, Dr. Simpson is a co-editor of the CMA Driver's Guide and the CCS representative on the CMA's Specialist Forum. He was the first recipient of the CMA Award for Young Leaders.

Dr. Simpson will begin his one-year term as CMA president in August 2014.

A full bio of Dr. Chris Simpson can be found at www.cma.ca/media-guide-gc2013

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is the national voice of Canadian physicians. Founded in 1867, the CMA is a voluntary professional organization representing more than 78,000 of Canada's physicians and comprising 12 provincial and territorial medical associations and 51 national medical organizations. CMA's mission is to serve and unite the physicians of Canada and be the national advocate, in partnership with the people of Canada, for the highest standards of health and health care.

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association

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