The Choosing Wisely Canada National Meeting was held on May 27, 2019, in Montreal, Quebec. Located in the vibrant downtown core at the Centre Mont-Royal, this year’s meeting marked a special celebration of the first five years of the campaign. Over 380 participants were in attendance including clinicians, patient representatives, leaders from national organizations, medical students, and representatives from all provincial and territorial campaign affiliates.

Opening remarks were delivered by Dr. Hugo Viens from the Quebec Medical Association and Dr. Gigi Osler, President of the Canadian Medical Association. Dr. Osler referred to Choosing Wisely Canada as “more than an initiative – it’s a movement” that will continue to have an impact on important health issues that matter to all Canadians. These remarks acknowledged how far the campaign has progressed in the past five years, and our opportunity to continue this momentum in the future.

Taking Action

This year’s meeting theme, Taking Action, is reflective of the next chapter of the Choosing Wisely Canada campaign. Dr. Cara Tannenbaum, Director of the Canadian Deprescribing Network, delivered an inspiring keynote urging attendees to be bold and to take leadership on reducing overuse.  Following the keynote, attendees participated in breakout or workshop sessions available in English and French to learn more about the impressive efforts taking place across Canada. The meeting closed on a rousing note, with attendees buzzing about the venue to share ideas on the following question: “what is one thing we can do to reduce overuse in Canada.”

The National Meeting is a unique forum for clinicians, patients, researchers and system leaders to discuss and engage on topics related to overuse. Over 100 abstracts were submitted on themes related to deprescribing, medical education, patient engagement, measurement and evaluation, and quality improvement. Many of these impressive initiatives were selected for breakout presentations at the National Meeting and featured in our 2019 Abstract Book. We are thankful to our presenters and facilitators for sharing their insights and inspiring our attendees to take action on overuse in Canada.

Thank you

We would like to thank our National Meeting Planning Committee for their contribution and organization of this year’s meeting. We also thank our lead sponsors, the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Institute for Health Information, for their generosity and support. Finally, thank you to our event partners the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec, Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, Canadian Patient Safety Institute, Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health and the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care.

2019 National Meeting Photo Album 

Special thanks to Joanna Wong, our Choosing Wisely Canada Project Assistant, for capturing the moments of this year’s event, and Stephanie Callan for organizing another successful National Meeting!

Joanna Wong Photography

Please visit our National Meeting album to view all photos from the event.

We hope you will join us next year in Ottawa, Ontario for Choosing Wisely Canada’s 2020 National Meeting. We look forward to seeing you there!