Ontario Medical Association appoints Dr Adam Kassam as President

Dr Kassam’s induction as president for a one-year term took place during the first Annual General Meeting

Dr Adam Kassam became the 140th president of the Ontario Medical Association, the youngest president in the association’s history, the first physiatrist and the first Ismaili Muslim.

Dr Kassam’s induction as president for a one-year term took place during the first Annual General Meeting following sweeping governance changes approved last fall.

Dr Kassam said the three priorities for his presidency were advocating for physicians, working with partners to rebuild the healthcare system after the pandemic, and modernising the OMA to make it an even more transparent, accountable and effective organisation for the province’s 43,000 physicians.

“Through the hundreds of conversations I’ve had with doctors across Ontario this past year, whether in the hospital or clinic, during our vaccination drives or over Zoom, I have been inspired by your advocacy, work and sacrifice,” Dr Kassam said in his first presidential address. “Through it all, you have shown all of Ontario what can be accomplished through collaboration, compassion and courage. These are the key principles – the three Cs – that will underpin my work during my term as president.”

The OMA’s two-day meeting was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as was last year’s final meeting of the OMA Council. The 250 member-elected delegate Council is being replaced with a leaner General Assembly as part of governance changes aimed at making the OMA the most effective and modern organisation possible. The weekend will conclude with an orientation session of the new General Assembly.

Dr Kassam, who is 33, works as a physiatrist – a rehabilitation specialist — and clinical associate at Runnymede Healthcare Center and Athlete’s Care in Toronto and is a faculty lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. His clinical practice focuses on musculoskeletal and neurological rehabilitation of patients who have had muscle, bone or nerve injuries.

Dr Kassam was born and raised in Toronto, the son of a Kenyan mother and Tanzanian father. He is the first in his immediate family to graduate from university and become a doctor. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University, where he majored in neurobiology and holds an MD from Dartmouth Medical School and a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University. He completed his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Western University.

Dr Kassam succeeds Dr Samantha Hill as OMA president. Dr Hill’s accomplishments as president included raising the profile and voice of physicians with the public, government and stakeholders to new heights. During her tenure, she did about 350 media interviews, the majority of which focussed on providing accurate information about COVID. She also made equity, diversity and inclusion a pillar of her presidency, which included a groundbreaking report showing a substantial pay gap exists between male and female physicians. Dr Hill will continue to serve the OMA as past president.