OMA, CMA trailblazer retires

Barbara Sibbald

Dr. Carole Guzman, a trailblazer for women physicians who has a passionate interest in the evolution of Canada's health care system, retired in May after spending more than 6 years as the CMA's associate secretary general. Figure 1

Figure 1. Dr. Carole Guzman: time to relax

She served the organization for 20 years, beginning as a committee member in 1979 and becoming a board alternate in 1984 and a board member in 1988. She was president of the Ontario Medical Association in 1989, and 2 years later assumed the CMA presidency. Guzman was the second woman to head both these organizations. She was also president of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada from 1981 to 1983.

Guzman, who graduated from the University of Toronto in 1958, is an internist specializing in pulmonary disease. She did research and practised rehabilitation medicine at Ottawa's National Defence Medical Centre for 22 years. She also developed a care model for patients with chest disease that is still used today. In 1992 she quit her practice to assume the CMA post, but she continued to teach at the University of Ottawa.

Guzman became involved in organized medicine because she felt the profession was being "assaulted" by politicians, economists and others. She vowed to help improve the environment so that "physicians could do what they were trained to do." She adds that "the profession has a role in helping society make decisions."

In retirement, she plans to pursue her hobbies and volunteer work and spend more time with her family; her husband, Tony, is a neurologist, and her first grandchild was born in June. She still plans to do limited consulting in health policy and professional issues.-Barbara Sibbald, CMAJ