Contact ESS/OSS Committee Members

Dr Stu Iglesias has been an SRPC member and Board member since 1996. He received his post graduate training in Toronto with a skill set that included surgery, anesthesia, and maternity care. He has practiced in several small rural communities across BC and AB. A passionate advocate for the anesthesia, surgery, and maternity care programs that sustain the rural hospitals, Dr Iglesias has published more than 30 peer reviewed papers. These include the collaborative Joint Position Papers or Rural Obstetrics(1998), Rural Anesthesia(2001), and Rural Surgery and Operative Delivery (2015). He is a frequent presenter at rural conferences. Dr Iglesias retired from clinical practice in 2018. Presently he is a Lifetime Member of the SRPC.

"I started this SRPC Committee approx 1997. I was alarmed with the attrition of rural Canadas small volume rural surgical and maternity programs. I have always believed these programs to represent the cornerstones off the rural health care infrastructure- specifically, the hospital and its ability and inclination to take care of more than the mildly ill."

The Rural Surgery Committee pursues a proactive agenda to stem the attrition of rural surgical services in general and, in particular, the small volume programs that are essential to sustain the rural maternity care programs. The pathways we have followed have generated  much of the primary research on rural surgical services in Canada and have built strong working relationships with obstetricians, surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, midwives, and both policy and community partners. We promote strong advocacy with all the pentagram partners. A particular interest of this Committee s to support and strengthen the career pathways and training programs for rural Family Physicians interested in a surgical practice.