As part of the Province’s work to make sure British Columbians have access to high-quality primary care, 14 internationally-trained physicians will begin practicing in rural and remote communities in B.C. this month, including a new family doctor in Castlegar.
This program, funded for a total of $2.8 million by the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues – a collaborative committee of the Ministry of Health and Doctors of BC – is part of the Province’s strategy to strengthen access to family doctors and other primary care providers for individuals throughout British Columbia. Through this work, almost 66,000 patients in B.C. have been matched with a GP or other primary care provider since 2013.
“Congratulations to the physicians who have completed the Practice Ready Assessment and are now set to begin work in B.C.,” said Health Minister Terry Lake. “We know that for patients, a strong relationship with their primary care team is an important part of proactively maintaining health. These new doctors will positively impact both the personal health of their patients as well as that of their new community.”
The 14 internationally trained physicians represent the first group to participate in the new Practice Ready Assessment pilot program. In the program, doctors undergo a rigorous assessment process, spending three months with a B.C. physician who evaluates their skills as they care for patients. Physicians successfully completing the program commit to practice for at least three years in a designated rural community in need.
This fall, a second cohort of 16 physicians will go through the program, which is a partnership between the Ministry of Health, Doctors of BC, regional health authorities, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC and the University of British Columbia.
“Internationally trained physicians continue to enhance and complement the physician workforce here in British Columbia,” said Dr. Alan Ruddiman, co-chair, Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues. “In many of B.C.’s rural communities these physicians are the backbone of primary care and hospital services, and we value their skills and expertise. The Practice Ready Assessment program supports this strong tradition of excellence in care.”
The Practice Ready Assessment program is part of the Province’s strategy to strengthen access to primary care services through improved recruitment, retention and innovative practice models, such as interprofessional teams. The Province, health authorities and Doctors of BC, in partnership with more than 30 Divisions of Family Practice across the province, are working to create targeted solutions to increase access to primary care driven by local needs, including:
- recruiting new doctors and preparing for retirements,
- introducing team-based practices, with a range of health professionals who work together to provide care to patients, and
- helping general practitioners increase their office practice capacity in order to accept new patients.
The Rural and Remote Division of Family Practice specifically focuses on supporting physicians who work and live in rural British Columbia.
To help ensure improved health care for British Columbians in every region of the Province, the Ministry of Health has developed the overarching strategy, Setting Priorities for the B.C. Health System. As part of this, a series of policy papers – with a focus on primary and community care, rural health services and health human resources – were created to help guide the province as stakeholders throughout the system work together to build a better health system.
A backgrounder follows.
Media Contacts:
Laura Heinze
Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line)
Sharon Shore
Senior Manager, Communications and Media Relations
Doctors of BC
604 638-2832 or 604 306-1866 (pager)
BACKGROUNDER
Backgrounder
Facts about the Practice Ready Assessment program:
- In July 2015, 14 international medical graduates were assessed as practice ready and placed in communities of need: McBride, Hazelton, Quesnel, Dawson Creek, Fort St. John (two), Terrace, Castlegar, Lillooet (two), Invermere, Port Hardy (two) and Powell River.
- Another 16 international medical graduates will be assessed in the fall of 2015 – for a total of 30 practice ready family physicians per year.
- Two additional cohorts of 15 internationally trained physicians will be assessed in 2016 based on funding and program evaluation.
- Internationally trained physicians who successfully complete the assessment program can set up practice in one of the designated communities in need.
Facts about rural physician and health care professionals’ recruitment:
- In 2014-15, government spent approximately $100 million on incentives to recruit and retain physicians in B.C.’s rural communities.
- Recruitment efforts in rural communities are significantly outpacing population growth. In 2014-15, there were 2,441 doctors practicing in rural areas in B.C., compared to 2,260 in 2010-11 – an increase of about 8%. During the same period, population in rural British Columbia has grown by only 2.1%.
By the numbers:
- According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, as of February 2015, there were 5,942 family doctors registered to practice in B.C., an increase of 7% over the previous five years (5,548 general practitioners as of December 2009).
- According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, as of 2013, there were 123 family doctors per 100,000 people in B.C. – compared to the national average of 111.
- The provincial government has more than doubled the number of first year undergraduate medical school spaces in B.C., from 128 to 288 between 2003 and 2011. The number of entry-level postgraduate residency positions increased from 134 in 2003 to 338 positions in 2015, primarily in family medicine. More than 500 additional family physicians have graduated from UBC as a result of the medical school expansion.
- Statistics from the Canadian Community Health Survey show that in 2014, 84.9% of British Columbians now have a regular physician, up slightly from 84.5% from 2013.
- In the latest agreement with the Doctors of BC, the Province committed $67 million in new funding towards ongoing support of the work of A GP for Me and other primary-care focused programs. Almost 66,000 patients are now matched with a primary care provider thanks to this work.
- Nurse practitioners were introduced as an important part of health care teams in B.C. in 2005, helping meet the growing need for primary and community health care. Since B.C.’s first group of nurse practitioners graduated in 2005, 341 nurse practitioners have been licensed to practice in the province.
Learn more:
To read the Ministry of Health’s strategic document, Setting Priorities for the B.C. Health System and the accompanying policy papers, please visit: www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/topic.page?id=EF73BCF3DE34484CB4DBA9E34092402C
Media Contacts:
Laura Heinze
Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line)
Sharon Shore
Senior Manager, Communications and Media Relations
Doctors of BC
604 638-2832 or 604 306-1866 (pager)
