In-flight emergencies. CMPA replies

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 59, No. 7, September 2017, Page 364 Letters
By: Douglas Bell, MD

The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA), a not-for-profit organization, is the primary provider of medical liability protection for Canadian physicians.

The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA), a not-for-profit organization, is the primary provider of medical liability protection for Canadian physicians. In addition to providing assistance to physicians involved in medical-legal issues arising from their practice, the CMPA compensates, on behalf of its members, patients injured as a result of negligent medical care. The CMPA is committed to promoting safe medical care and makes a significant contribution to improved health care safety in Canada.

Unlike an insurance company, the CMPA employs a discretionary approach in its assistance to members. This enables the association to consider whether members are eligible for assistance and the scope of such assistance on a case-by-case basis, tailored to meet the needs of individual member physicians and their specific circumstances. For further information on CMPA’s assistance and provision of protection for its members, as well as on the topic of occurrence-based protection, please visit the CMPA website (www.cmpa-acpm.ca).

Physicians may also wish to read the CMPA’s publication, “Are there risks to acting as a good Samaritan?” (www.cmpa-acpm.ca/en/advice-publications/browse-articles/2015/are-there-risks-to-acting-as-a-good-samaritan).

CMPA members who have questions regarding CMPA assistance and legal issues may always contact the association at 1 800 267-6522. When physicians call the CMPA for advice, they are placed in direct contact with a physician advisor who can provide confidential medical-legal guidance.
—Douglas Bell, MD
Associate Executive Director and Managing Director, Office of the CEO
Canadian Medical Protective Association

Douglas Bell, MD. In-flight emergencies. CMPA replies. BCMJ, Vol. 59, No. 7, September, 2017, Page(s) 364 - Letters.


Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

BCMJ standard citation style is a slight modification of the ICMJE/NLM style, as follows:

  • Only the first three authors are listed, followed by "et al."
  • There is no period after the journal name.
  • Page numbers are not abbreviated.


For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

BCMJ Guidelines for Authors

Leave a Reply