Alberta Medical Association Installs 2011-12 President and Welcomes New Canadian Medical Association President

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Sept. 22, 2011) - The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) will install its 2011-12 president on Saturday, September 24 during its annual general meeting (AGM) and Representative Forum (RF) at the Westin in Calgary. The AMA president serves a one-year term, in addition to one year each as president-elect and immediate past president.

Dr. Linda M. Slocombe will officially assume the role of AMA president at the end of the Representative Forum meeting on Saturday. A Calgary family physician, she is currently on staff at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, where she practises family medicine obstetrics as part of the Grace Maternal Child Clinic. She is also a member of the Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network, doing obstetrics and after-hours clinic work.

In addition to her busy clinical practice, Dr. Slocombe teaches as a clinical lecturer in the Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Calgary.

Actively involved with the AMA for many years, Dr. Slocombe is a member of the AMA Board of Directors (since 2005) and a Representative Forum delegate, and has served as a member of numerous committees.

She is also past-president of the Calgary and Area Physicians Association and previously served as president of the Primary Care Physicians Association in Calgary from 2006-08.

During the AGM, current AMA president, Dr. Patrick J. (P.J.) White, will deliver his valedictory, in which he will review the past year and comment on the events and issues that have arisen during this time.

Dr. White will also officially welcome the Canadian Medical Association's (CMA) 144th president, Dr. John Haggie to Alberta. Dr. Haggie became CMA president in August at the CMA's annual General Council, held this year in Newfoundland (NL).

At the CMA President's Luncheon on Saturday, Dr. Haggie will install Dr. Slocombe as AMA president, address RF delegates and present CMA Honorary Membership awards to Alberta physicians.

Originally from Manchester, England, Dr. Haggie began his career in Canada in St Anthony, Newfoundland in 1993 where he became consulting surgeon for the Grenfell Region Health Services. In 1997, Dr. Haggie was appointed attending surgeon, General and Vascular Surgery, at the James Paton Memorial Hospital in Gander, NL. He held this position until 2008 when he became chief of staff of the same hospital and he continues to serve in this capacity.

Dr. Haggie has committed his expertise and time to the CMA and the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) and was elected president of the NLMA in 2002, leading the association during its first ever job action.

The Representative Forum is the governing body of the AMA. It includes representatives of all sectors of the profession – specialty sections, regions, students, residents, past presidents and deans of medicine. The RF meets at least twice a year to establish policy and set direction.

For more information, or to request an interview, please contact Shannon E. Rupnarain or Ronald A. Kustra.