Vital physician resource supports rural communities

Supervising physicians who are assigned by a health authority to assess the knowledge, competencies, and clinical skills of rural doctors with provisional licenses will now receive financial compensation through the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues (JSC).

To support this, the JSC, a collaborative committee of the Ministry of Health and Doctors of BC, have approved this ongoing funding, which is expected to be available by the end of September 2015, and will be retroactive from April 2014.

Payments will be on a sliding scale. Much of a supervising physician’s time is needed during the first year, and especially within the first three months of a provisionally-licensed doctor’s term. As the provisionally-licensed doctor progresses, the supervising physician’s involvement lessens.  The following is a summary of payments:

• $400 per week for the first three months of supervision
• $100 per week for the next nine months of supervision
• $50 per week for subsequent years of supervision, up to a maximum of four additional years
• For those required to travel, travel expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with Government financial policies and a travel time honorarium will be provided

The JSC recognizes that rural doctors on provisional licenses practicing in RSA communities remain vital to delivering health care in those communities; particularly in terms of recruitment.  In 2012, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC (CPSBC) made bylaw changes that increased tasks for supervising physicians of provisionally-licensed rural doctors.

This funding will help alleviate the financial and related burdens experienced by supervising physicians who travel and/or forego their own practice time to oversee provisionally-licensed, rural doctors. JSC believes it is important to acknowledge and reward the work provided by supervising physicians to keep rural physicians in RSA communities. For more information about compensation for supervisors, please send an email to Meredith Cormier at View Email Addressmcormier@doctorsofbc.ca

This is just one of many programs developed by the JSC to keep health care services accessible to remote and rural communities in BC.