Dr. Katharine Smart, the president of the Yukon Medical Association, was declared president-elect of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) late last week.

Smart was elected by Yukon members of the CMA, following a two-week campaign from Feb. 5 to 19.

“I’m excited,” Smart told the Star Monday. “I think it’s going to be a great opportunity.”

She ran against Dr. Alexander Poole, the YMA’s past-president, and Dr. Rao Tadepalli, ex-officio of the CMA board of directors and also a past YMA president.

It’s the first time a Yukoner has been voted into the position since Dr. Allon Reddoch in 1998. He is also a former YMA president.

The CMA’s president is selected from a different province or territory each year, as per a rotating schedule, spurring the election of a Yukon candidate for 2021.

Smart will be ratified as the Yukon candidate at the CMA General Council meeting in Halifax this August. She will serve as CMA president for one year.

She cannot hold two presidencies at the same time, so a new YMA president will be elected for 2021. Smart will serve one year as YMA president, instead of two.

She will serve as president-elect at the CMA in 2020, allowing her to learn the role and “hit the ground running” in 2021.

Smart is a pediatrician working at Klondyke Pediatrics and the Whitehorse General Hospital. She has practised medicine in the Yukon since 2017.

The CMA noted in a media release last Friday that Smart campaigned on embracing change in medicine.

“Physicians need to lead in the delivery of health care to Canadians. We have to think outside the box and engage in new ways of doing things,” Smart said in the release.

“This may feel uncomfortable and will certainly challenge us to adapt our practice in new and innovative ways.”

Smart is advocating for the CMA to become a change maker on multiple fronts.

These include exploring the “potential of technology”, like virtual care, to improve medical care and efficiencies in practice.

She also campaigned on the CMA “tackling system-level barriers” to create more efficient and supportive work environments for medical practitioners.

Finally, Smart is advocating for improvement to medical service in rural, remote and Indigenous communities.

She points specifically to more training opportunities, recruitment and retention efforts in these communities.

She is calling for a collaborative effort with CMA members across the country to achieve these goals.

“The more individual physicians see the relevance of the CMA, the more powerful its voice will be in advocacy and systems change,” Smart said.