REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – Resident Doctors of Canada (RDoC), which represents over 10,000 resident doctors across Canada, strongly supports the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) decision to withdraw from the World Medical Association (WMA) today, taking a stand against a serious ethical breach by the incoming President of the WMA, Dr. Leonid Eidelman.
At the WMA General Assembly, following Dr. Eidelman’s inaugural speech, RDoC representatives witnessed the discovery that several portions of his remarks had been plagiarized word-for-word from CMA Past-President Dr. Chris Simpson’s inaugural presidential address in 2014, as well as from various websites, blogs, and news articles. After this serious ethical breach was discovered, a motion to request Dr. Eidelman’s resignation was put forward, and subsequently overturned by the WMA Council.
As resident doctors, we hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and ethical behaviour, and expect the same from the WMA, whose own stated purpose is to “promote the highest possible standard of medical ethics.”
In light of the WMA’s failure to address this ethical breach, RDoC will be re-evaluating its relationship with the World Medical Association and Junior Doctors Network and reviewing other opportunities for advancing global health at its next Board meeting in November 2018.
