NewsFlash

Tools & Resources

Pathways is Rolling Out! The Rural and Remote Division of Family Practice is implementing Pathways as a resource for its members and we are excited to bring this powerful new resource to members. Find out more -->

Resources. Don't forget to refer to the Resources section on our website. It ​includes a variety of items including Pathways, Continuing Professional Development, Billing Support, Toolkits, UpToDate, and more.

Our Chapters are on the Map! We recently incorporated an interactive map on our home page to visually communicate the locations of our rural and remote chapters as well as the respective health authorities Find out more -->I

Locum Positions. To view the most current locum postings, visit www.divisionsbc.ca/rural-remote/locums. If you would like to post a position, email Katy Poon at kpoon@divisionsbc.ca. We strive to keep our information current, so if any of your postings have been filled, please notify us.

NEW Website for Rural Locums. If you're a general practitioner or a specialist physician who is interested in working as a locum in rural BC or if you're a physician in a rural or remote community in BC and you need a locum, there is a new website for you. Visit www.locumsruralbc.ca

Documentary on Rural Birth: "Where was I born Mama?" Fact. In BC, more than 1,000 rural women must travel more than 100 kilometers to give birth each year. Grab a coffee and sit tight for 23 minutes for this documentary profiling women and families in rural BC developed by the Centre for Rural Health Research www.crhr.ca

Events and CPD

SAVE THE DATE! Division Annual General Meeting Tues, Sept 26, 6pm - 8pm. By videoconference across our communities. All members invited! Stay tuned for details.

Continuing Professional Development. In addition to the Division's annual forum and chapter-based CPD offering, there are other excellent CPD resources on our website. Find upcoming CPD events including the September 22 Annual Pacific Psychopharmacology Conference and the November 17-18 Resident Care Refresher at www.divisionsbc.ca/rural-remote/events

Interested in Division Financial Management?

We invite two or three physician members to join a new Finance Committee which will provide oversight of our financial systems including budgeting, financial reports, policies and procedures. Find out more -->

Feature Physician - Dr. Dana Hubler

Dana with her husband and daughters enjoying a family hike in Italy.

"If you get bored easily, go rural," says Dr. Dana Hubler. This is the advice she shares with physicians who are considering practicing in a rural or remote community, or looking for a challenge.

While in medical school, Hubler knew she wanted to practice rural medicine. She grew up in smaller communities and understood both the blessings and the challenges of rural communities.

She completed her residency at Dalhousie University in New Brunswick, and then practiced in St. Andrews by the Sea until their second child came along. At that time they moved back to BC to be so they could be in the same time zone as other family. Read More -->

Chapter Events & Initiatives

Lillooet & Ashcroft Walked With Their Docs!

Walk with Your Doc photo courtesy of Wendy Fraser.

The Lillooet & area Chapter hosted two walks during the Walk with Your Doc week – one in Lillooet, and one in Ashcroft with about 50 residents and 5 physicians in total. Why do doctors want to walk with patients? Because it's the best prescription for health they can give you. A great turn-out on a sunny day and a fun time was had by all.

Physicians: Are You Looking for Collegiality and Peer Support? Join a Rural Locum Team!

Dr. John Pawlovich (far right) and Dr. James Liu (third from right) on their co-deployment to Dease Lake.

Rural Locum Teams is an initiative designed to provide community support and practice coverage to communities in need of physician coverage, and to support new physicians interested in rural practice.

Depending on your preference, there are three different team models. Read more -->

Northern Gulf Islands-Gold River Rural Adult Mental Health & Substance Use Project

In rural medicine, you need to use every resource in your community and when the community consultation process took place for the North Gulf Island Rural Mental Health project nearly every health care position and community resource was represented.

Physicians were in the room, as were nurses, medical office staff, social workers, first responders, food bank staff, school counsellors, First Nation representatives, health authority representatives and representatives from nearly every not-for-profit organization.

Supported by the JSC and Shared Care, this project focuses on creating collaborative solutions for adult mental health and substance use for the residents of Hornby Island, Denman Island, Cortes Island, Quadra Island and Gold River -- a combined population of nearly 6,900 residents. Read more -->

Gabriola Island: A Rural Community Takes Charge of its Health & Wellness Needs

Chapter Coordinator, Nancy Rowan with Dr. Francois Bosman.

Gabriola Island may only be a twenty-minute ferry ride from Nanaimo but twenty minutes quickly turns into one, two or three hours given scheduled sailing intervals, boarding, disembarking, ferry overloads and lengthy delays. And at night, you are out of luck as there are no late night sailings. If you're heading out for holidays, this is somewhat acceptable. If you're dealing with a health care emergency, you're in trouble.

With a lack of family physicians, a lack of emergency care, high suicide rates, limited access to primary care, a high incidence of low income residents and seniors living alone, plus transportation challenges, what's a community to do? Do what Gabriola Island did! Rally the community. Read More -->

To learn more about Gabriola Island's specific actions, outcomes, project challenges and successes, download the poster.

For additional information about this project, please contact Nancy Rowan, Chapter Coordinator at nrowan@divisionsbc.ca

Pemberton Local Action Team (LAT) Launches Plan Y

lan Y is a web-based Wellness Directory that acts like a mobile application and features youth-focused programs and services. This much-needed online resource came to life through the Pemberton CYMSHU Local Action Team (LAT). After surveying youth, the LAT learned that youth didn't know what programs and services were available and that the primary way they like to access information is online. Plan Y serves the youth of the Pemberton, Líl̓wat Nation, Lower Lakes, Squamish-Lillooet Regional District Area C, and N’Quatqua communities. If you have any questions about Plan Y, please email Nancy Lee, Project Coordinator at PembertonLAT@divisionsbc.ca. Visit Plan-Y at www.plan-y.ca

June Division Retreat

To our board/physician leaders, and operations team...thank you to all who came and contributed to our June Division retreat in Squamish, a beautiful setting to share and explore together. Read More -->

Nicole Hochleitner-Wain, Chellie Dickinson & Dr. Nancy Humber presenting on the changing landscape to rural health human resources planning.