Ontario's 27,000 physicians have elected Ottawa internist Dr. Jeff Turnbull as their nominee for president of the Canadian Medical Association starting in 2010. This might turn out to be a process as long as U. S. President Barack Obama's journey to the White House.

However, "I'm not sure if I warrant that comparison," said Turnbull yesterday.

Dr. Robert Ouellet, the past president, Dr. Brian Day, and the current president of the CMA, might have strongly advocated a system based on a public-private hybrid but Turnbull seeks to bring about a change.

"I would support changes ... within a publicly funded health-care system," Turnbull said Monday from Ottawa. "I would not support a two-tiered system."

Turnbull has been a former president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and is currently the chief of staff at the Ottawa Hospital. He is working as a specialist who diagnoses and treats non-surgical diseases and is well-known for treating Ottawa's homeless people, spending two half-days a week in homeless shelters and being on-call all the time.

If he becomes the CMA president, Turnbull plans to work towards strengthening medicare through innovation and evidence based policy making, engaging physicians in their professional associations and to enhancing physician well-being.