Canadian College of Medical Geneticists
774 Echo Drive.
Ottawa, ON K1S5N8
Phone: (613) 730-6250
Fax: (613) 730-1116
Web: http://www.ccmg.medical.org

About Us:

The mission of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists is to establish and maintain high quality professional and ethical standards of medical genetics services in Canada and to help ensure that the highest quality of service is delivered to the Canadian public. The College will inform governments and the public at large about the importance of medical genetics in the Canadian health care system, and will help ensure that advances in medical genetics knowledge that may have applications to health care are presented to the Canadian public in an understandable manner.

In fulfilling its mission the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists will:

1. Define the essential characteristics and standards of medical genetics centres and their responsibilities to the Canadian health care system;

2. Certify individuals, who provide medical genetics services through the issue of certificates to those who demonstrate that they possess the necessary training and qualifications;

3. Establish and maintain, updating as necessary, a high level of professional and ethical standards of medical genetics services in Canada;

4. Provide a forum for the continuing education of its Fellows;

5. Lobby for continued universal access within the Canadian health care system to medical genetics services provided by genetics centres;

6. Inform governments, both Provincial and Federal, about the importance of medical genetics in the Canadian health care system;

7. Present in a manner understandable to the average citizen, advances in medical genetics knowledge that may have applications to health care;

8. Maintain the spirit of amiable collegiality which the College now enjoys.

The College will achieve its mission and goals by:

1. Appointing and evaluating the work of committees on the accreditation of centres, the certification of individuals, examinations, public policy and ethics, and laboratory and clinical standards;

2. Organizing Continuing Medical Education fora for its Fellows and for other health care professionals, both independently and in conjunction with other specialty organizations;

3. Encouraging and fostering Canadian collaborative research activities in areas within its mandate;

4. Preparing and presenting briefs to appropriate levels of government on the importance, resource needs, scope and effectiveness of medical genetic services in Canada;

5. Developing, through the work of its Education Committee, an educational resource, including materials of differing levels of complexity, suitable for other health care professionals, universities and the school system;

6. Preparing news releases, and otherwise commenting when appropriate on advances in medical genetics knowledge which may impact the Canadian health care system;

7. Providing grants, through the Linda Stevens Memorial fund, to trainees in CCMG training centres to allow them to attend educational courses in other centres, or to present research at national and international meetings;

8. Holding discussions at annual meetings of its Fellows on how best to achieve the mission of the College.