BC’s Healthcare System in the News
…care system has been suffering under the weight of the pandemic and the opioid crisis. We knew the situation would become even more difficult because of physician burnout. But none of us could have known that the system would struggle this much. Family doctors and patient advocates have not stopped speaking up about the crisis in family medicine. Close to a million British Columbians, or one in five people, do not have a family doctor and cannot…
LFP Payment Model Definitions
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Speak out for family medicine: Prioritizing Patient Care
…h our election toolkit! BC Family Doctors and the BC College of Family Physicians are asking you to join us in speaking out for family medicine. Our election toolkit will guide you on how you can share your story and push for needed changes in our healthcare system. Patients are at the centre of everything that you do as family doctors. When you’re not appropriately supported and resourced, it impacts the quality of care your patients receive. The…
More Than “Just a Family Doctor”
…views of BC Family Doctors. We share news written by or about family physicians to keep our members up to date on topics impacting our professional lives. Originally published in: CMAJ Blogs By Dr. Christine Hanna Christine Hanna is a family and emergency physician, the medical director/chief of the Division of emergency medicine at Quinte Health Care, and an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Queen’s University. Whether…
Follow up with your Family Doctor
…an, and how. Everyone deserves a family doctor. EVERYONE. Follow up with YOUR family doctor. Dr Jennifer Lush Family Physician, Victoria…
Renew your membership for 2024
…te change. Over the years, BC Family Doctors has led changes to family physician compensation and primary care reform. We are making sure family doctors’ voices are heard and patients’ needs are met. You spoke. We listened. We delivered. In the past year, we: Led an awareness raising campaign on the crisis in family medicine. Helped achieve a PMA with historic funding increases for doctors, tackling issues like re-referrals and administrative burd…
One year after it was announced, new pay model for B.C. family physicians showing signs of success
…years. He speaks with CFJC Today about the new pay model for BC family physicians that was launched last year. He says the payment change has eased some of the pressure on family health care, but it will be years before the family doctors situation is stabilized. “This basically staunched the bleeding that had happened over two decades, really. And it’s stopped that,” notes Del Begio. “But to turn the corner and to really build this up, it is goin…
The Big Idea: Pay family doctors differently
…andez shares with Macleans how B.C. rolled out the Longitudinal Family Physician payment model. When I started medical school, I planned to be an obstetrician. But as I completed my training, I realized that what I really enjoyed was family medicine—the opportunity to build a long-term relationship with a patient over 20, 30, maybe even 40 years. I was inspired by colleagues who had attended a birth early in their career and then were later presen…
Celebrating You on BC Family Doctor Day
…Family Doctor Day, we’ve joined together with the BC College of Family Physicians to share a message of unity and hope. Watch the video below! We thank you for showing up every single day to care for your patients. For continuing to lead with compassion through an ongoing healthcare crisis. We know the work of being a family doctors remains challenging, and despite the challenges (and there are many!), it truly feels like things are beginning to c…
How the new payment model could turn the tide on B.C.’s family doctor shortage
Dr. Melissa Duff There have been significant changes to primary care over the 17 years I have practiced family medicine. Yet the fee-for-service payment model has remained relatively static. Fee-for-service incentivizes seeing more patients, since we are primarily compensated by patient visits. Meanwhile, the reasons patients come to us for advice and help have expanded a lot. For example, fifty years ago people didn’t visit their family doctor f…
Breaking barriers: My journey as a family doctor in Canada—and the medical system’s failures
…Dr. Corina Ciolacu I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a physician, but my journey to becoming a family doctor in Canada was not just difficult—it was riddled with systemic obstacles that prevent qualified doctors from practicing and exacerbate our healthcare crisis. Originally from Romania, I immigrated in 2008, expecting to take a few exams before entering the medical system. Instead, it took me seven years to secure a residency s…
Join a BC Family Doctors Committee
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Shortage of family doctors prompts awareness campaign
…Dr. Renee Fernandez, Executive Director of BC Family Doctors, was on Global Morning News to discuss the shortage of family physicians in longitudinal family medicine. She speaks to the changing work of family doctors in BC as well as the needed supports for family medicine clinics. For more information about the #EveryoneDeservesAFamilyDoctor campaign, click here….
Joining BC Family Doctors in 2023
…he different tabs. Update your profile and banking information. Under Classification & Dues, confirm your membership with Doctors of BC and choose whether or not to be a member of CMA. Continue following the prompts for the Optional Demographics and Governance & Affiliations pages. Step 3. The Sections & Societies page will show your previous affiliations. If you were a member of BC Family Doctors last year, you will see your previous year’s categ…
Strengthening family medicine together: An update from Maryam
…which left me deeply appreciative of your ongoing commitment to family medicine. Our strategic session and focus group discussions were incredibly insightful. Your openness about the challenges you face—your fatigue, your relentless dedication to your patients and the immense sense of duty you feel—was remarkable. Please know that we hear you and are here to support you. Here’s what you have told us The conversations underscored the increasing co…
President’s message: A bold vision for our future
What a time to be a family physician in BC! I feel honoured to follow in the footsteps of so many great leaders. As we continue to advocate for family physicians in the province, there is still much to do and I’m ready to get to work. I have challenged the status quo in our healthcare system for nearly a decade. With my local Division of Family Practice, I learned how we can enact change at a local level. I also had many opportunities at a region…
You are a Specialist in Primary Care
…are system, often widening the cracks into chasms. There have been some positive changes too. We’ve seen how family doctors and the healthcare system can be nimble when faced with a crisis. There has been so much change. It’s been a lot for family physicians to carry. In the midst of all of this, an unassailable truth remains: Family doctors are the essential foundation of a high-functioning healthcare system. We believe that. And we hope you beli…
How to encourage more family doctors
…ng breed. Never, in my 20 years of practice in B.C., have I seen family medicine in crisis as it is now. Trust me, it is not a new issue. The writing has been on the wall for a long time, but we have been so busy working 70 hours a week, caring for patients, and trying to keep our small businesses afloat that we have stood by and watched government after government allow further erosion of primary care with no meaningful change. I have watched fam…
‘All the trends paint a dire picture’: B.C. facing looming shortage of family physicians
…looking at a whole-scale collapse of the primary care infrastructure” in British Columbia, says Renee Fernandez, executive director of BC Family Doctors. Fernandez predicts 40 per cent of B.C.’s family doctors will retire in the next 10 years and that it will be impossible to fill the gap, leaving millions in B.C. without a family doctor. The reason? The way family medicine is practised in B.C. – and in much of the country – is a failed business m…
‘In crisis’: Award-winning B.C. family doctor mulls giving up bursting practice
Dr. Tahmeena Ali, a BC Family Doctors board member, and family physician who serves the South Surrey-White Rock community is speaking out about her struggle to provide patient care in BC. She was named B.C.’s Family Physician of the Year in 2020 by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. She reached her breaking point after contracting COVID-19 a few weeks ago. “I don’t have any paid sick time, and if I don’t work I don’t generate income to p…