Canada’s newest clinical faculty association has won a resounding 83 per cent endorsement to represent academic clinicians in negotiating a memorandum of agreement with the University of Manitoba and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Long without any effective protection of their academic freedom and other terms and conditions of work, academic clinicians last year formed the Clinical Teachers Association at the University of Manitoba (CTAM). After a membership drive that resulted in a majority of geographic full-time (GFT) academic clinicians joining, CTAM conducted a secret ballot vote of all GFTs in January to confirm whether or not they wanted CTAM to represent them in negotiations with the health authority and the university.

“We were delighted with the strong show of support,” said Dr. Alan Jackson, president of CTAM. “We have contacted the administration at the university and the health authority and look forward to negotiating our first memorandum of agreement.”

CTAM was established in June 2011 and represents more than 500 GFT academic clinicians in the faculty of medicine at the U of M.