How to Get Involved

Why be involved?

PARA is your organization - your involvement directly benefits yourself and your colleagues.
Be involved in committees, contract enforcement, negotiations, and interact with people from all facets of residency and from all corners of Alberta.
Learn about the functioning of different organizations within health care and how decisions are made.
Have the opportunity to travel and to interact with the leaders of health-care change.

What is the PARA Board?

The PARA Board of Directors holds the decision-making power of the organization and makes these decisions by voting on resolutions.
The PARA Board consists of Executive Committee and several representatives (usually 2) from various aggregate groupings of medical fields and specialties which closely approximate representation by population.

              PARA Aggregates
              University of Calgary:
                   1. Family Medicine
                   2. Surgery and Surgical Subspecialties, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Emergency Medicine
                   3. Psychiatry, Radiology, Anesthesia, Pathology/Laboratory Medicine, Community Medicine
                   4. Internal Medicine and Medical Subspecialties (not otherwise specified), Pediatrics

              University of Alberta:
                   1. Family Medicine
                   2. Surgery and Surgical Subspecialties
                   3. Psychiatry, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Pathology/Laboratory/Community Medicine,                                   Occupational Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Radiation Oncology
                   4. Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine
                   5. Internal Medicine and Medical Subspecialties (not otherwise specified)

Are there any penalties to participating? Absolutely NOT!

According to the contract you are allowed time off, with pay, to attend to PARA business; dinner and transportation costs are covered by the organization.
All program directors are informed of this allowance at the beginning of the year and we can remind them on your behalf thereafter, if necessary.

What are the expectations?
They are absolutely not onerous:

Attend 4-5 board meetings per year (occur on Mondays), alternating between Edmonton and Calgary, lasting approximately 4 to 5 hours each.
Become knowledgeable about issues facing residents of all programs within your aggregate group, bring these issues and views to the Board, and communicate PARA's actions back to the constituents.
Establish regular communication with chief residents in your aggregate.
Represent PARA on an external committee - that is, PARA sends delegates to meetings of other organizations to ensure that resident physician views are heard in all relevant forums. Meetings of those committees are only a few per year and a report to the PARA Board should be made after each meeting.

Sign me up!!

E-mail us at para-ab@shawbiz.ca with your name and program as soon as possible. Also, if we have an excess of candidates from a given aggregate, we may hold elections within that aggregate - ample notice will be given.