Dr Carol Ward, a geriatric psychiatrist chose her specialty for the opportunity to connect with people. “I love stories. I love to hear people’s stories. And the longer you live, the better the story.” Growing up in the Maritimes, Dr Ward was surrounded by good story-tellers – “Generally speaking I find older folk are grateful and very appreciative of being able to share their lived experience.” Knowing her patients’ stories is her way to helping them. Dr Ward finds that it’s like being a detective – pulling all aspects of medicine and a person’s background together.
Jul 10, 2020
Given the popularity of the course on Finding and Creating Joy in Work among the participants over the last year, the Specialist Services and Shared Care Committees via their Physician Leadership S
Jun 26, 2020
A new publication brings together just a few of the many great examples of Facility Engagement activities across BC MSAs and health authorities. Each provides insights into engagement processes t
Jun 26, 2020
Diabetes care for children is team-based, says Vernon general pediatrician Eiko Waida.
“There are a lot of people involved. We have the patient, the patient’s family, sometimes multiple families, the nurse, the dietician, administration, different pediatricians – industry is the other big thing. We have pump trainers out in the community. It’s a lot of players,” she explained.
Jun 25, 2020
For health care providers, extreme stress is an expected side effect of working on the front lines during a pandemic. In addition to the stress of treating patients with so many unknowns, concerns about contracting the virus and spreading it to others is profound in the medical community.
Victoria psychiatrist Dr Joanna Cheek recognized early on that frontline workers would need a psychosocial response to this stress. Already working on a Physician-Led Quality Improvement (PQI) project, she was able to work with PQI manager Jenny Aiken to pivot, create a new team, and create a Stress First Aid and Peer Support virtual workshop that was supported by PQI and the Specialist Services Committee (SSC).
Mar 26, 2020
Effective March 27, 2020, the SSC has created two new fee codes to support COVID-19 related specialist work. These fees are temporary and are in addition to the fee codes that all physicians can benefit from. The new specialist fee codes include:
- 10007 Specialist Email/Text/Telephone Medical Advice Relay or ReRX Fee
- 10008 Urgent Specialist COVID-19 Advice - Initiated by a Specialist, General Practitioner or Health Care Practitioner.
Click here for more information on all the new COVID-19 Fee Codes. Billing and fee related inquiries can be emailed directly to: economics@doctorsofbc.ca
Mar 25, 2020
*We will only be accepting applications for online courses until July 31st
Please note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be a temporary freeze on receiving/approving any requests to the Physician Leadership Scholarship effective immediately up to the end of July.
Feb 26, 2020
Every year, thousands of health care leaders and professionals around the world get together at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI)’s four-day conference in Orlando to connect about the future of health care improvement.
The most recent conference was held December 8-11, 2019 with 5,500 attendees from over 55 countries. As one of the most influential events in health care quality improvement worldwide, the Specialist Services Committee (SSC) was excited to be chosen amongst the tough competition to present a half-day workshop on BC’s Physician Quality Improvement Initiative (PQI).
Feb 26, 2020
Given the popularity of the course on Finding and Creating Joy in Work among the first and second contingent, the Specialist Services and Shared Care Committees via their Physician Leadership Program are once again sponsoring (covering the tuition costs of) Specialists and GPs in BC to participate in the course. This 12 week online course is being offered from March 11 to June 3 by the Institute for Health Care Improvement. Registration is open until March 11.
Feb 25, 2020
Ryan Murray is the new Co-Chair of the Specialist Services Committee (SSC) and brings to the role a wealth of experience from the Alberta Medical Association (AMA), the BC Ministry of Health, as we
Feb 20, 2020
Dr Andrew Gray, a Medical Health Officer in Northern Health, attributes his pursuit of the Public Health and Preventive Medicine specialty to a desire for contributing to the well being of people,
Oct 4, 2019
In our continued commitment to support specialist involvement in local Divisions of Family Practice activities, we (the Specialist Services Committee) have expanded funding support to enable specia
Oct 3, 2019
PQI recently celebrated 27 graduates in two health authorities and supported their quality improvement projects.
Oct 1, 2019
When Dr James Reid, Head of Emergency Medicine at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH), participated in Physician Quality Initiative (PQI) training, he didn’t know it would be the catalyst to make him a leader in change within Interior Health (IH). As part of the training, Dr Reid began looking at ways to reduce risk and increase patient safety during follow ups on emergency department (ED) patients’ lab tests and x-rays. His project led to innovative solutions and improved processes for a complex issue.
Sep 30, 2019
For Dr Leena Jain, a geriatrician in Fraser Health, becoming a doctor was like continuing her family legacy since her grandfather, father, both her siblings and her husband are all physicians. “My father never pushed me to become a doctor, but I saw the gratification in his eyes when he helped patients – they were so thankful to have been treated by him.”
Aug 29, 2019
The Specialist Services Committee recently undertook an evaluation of the Physician Leadership Program (PLP) to assess the impact that the program has had in developing the participant physicians’ leadership abilities. The PLP was developed in 2013 by UBC-Sauder, Vancouver Coastal Health and Provincial Health Services Authority, and is funded by the Shared Care Committee (SCC) and Specialist Services Committee (SSC).
Aug 8, 2019
If you were eavesdropping on the informal chat of a room full of medical professionals, how often would the word ‘joy’ come up? While terms like ‘burnout’ and ‘overwork’ might pepper the conversation, ‘joy’ would likely be missing in action.
In order to initiate an understanding of the causes, implications and possible solutions to burnout among physicians, two joint collaborative committees of Doctors of BC and the BC government ─ the Specialist Services and Shared Care committees ─ sponsored the participation of 35 physicians in an online course called Joy in Work(link is external) (JIW). The program was offered by the Institute for Health Care Improvement and ran from March to June, 2019.
Jun 26, 2019
PQI recently celebrated 63 graduates in three health authorities and supported their quality improvement projects.
Jun 24, 2019
Dr Curt Smecher, PQI Provincial Physician Lead and Anesthesiologist at Abbotsford Regional Hospital won the Health Care Hero Award for Fraser Health as part of BC Health Care Awards Ceremony on Jun
Jun 17, 2019
The Specialist Services Committee’s Annual Report focuses on the committee’s continued efforts to create an effective and efficient specialist care system.
Click here to read the Full Report, and click here to access the Executive Summary.