Resources

The following is an overview of regional, provincial, and national organizations that can support your local recruitment, retention, and practice coverage strategy.

FPSC Provincial Recruitment & Retention Steering Committee

  • Brings together family doctors, divisions, professional associations, health authorities, governments, educators and other organizations working towards ensuring that BC's communities have sufficient doctors to meet patient needs now and in the future.
  • Coordinates a streamlined approach to addressing recruitment, retention, and practice coverage.
  • Identifies and addresses system-level barriers to recruitment, retention, and practice coverage.

Family Practitioner Services Committee (FPSC)

  • Enables mobilization of resources to support the DoFP Recruitment & Retention Steering Committee’s work (e.g., to fund the R & R portal).

Health Authorities

Access your local HA’s Website for further information.

First Nations Health Authority (FNHA)

  • Health Authority staff can assist you by:
    • Guiding you and physician candidates through the sponsorship and supervision process (for provisional license candidates).
    • Facilitating the return of service process for international medical graduates.
    • Supporting the credentialing process.
    • Creating and marketing permanent family physician vacancies.
  • FNHA can support you with building relationships - key to success and ability of physicians to provide care that meets the needs of local First Nations (see “Partnering with First Nations in Recruitment and Retention Plans” ).

Health Match BC

  • A free health professional recruitment service funded by the province of BC, Health Match BC can assist you by:
    • Creating and marketing permanent and locum family physician vacancies through their website and at international conferences.
    • Evaluating a candidate's professional qualifications (especially candidates trained outside of Canada).
    • Facilitating contact with prospective candidates (registered with Health Match BC) who are interested in physician vacancies in your community.

Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc)

  • Advocates for rural health by attracting, recruiting, and retaining physicians and other health professionals.
  • Supports and develops strategies for health professional recruitment as a key area of focus.

Locums.ca

  • A physician-run website that broadcasts your locum ad (short term or long term locums) and permanent GP postings to over 1,000 physician members; includes tips and resources.

Locums for Rural BC

  • Supports small rural communities with practice coverage to enable physician in these communities to take leave for vacation and CME.

Locumunity

  • BC-based, doctor-founded start-up focused on recruitment and matching of locums with clinics.

Society of General Practitioners (SGP)

  • Offers a range of services for new physicians including: billing education workshops, tips for new recruits, one-page fee summaries (“cheat sheets), and a simplified guide to fees.
  • SGP locums website can advertise your posting for short term and long term locums at no cost to SGP members and an annual fee for divisions.

College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC (CPSBC)

  • The licensing and regulatory body for all physicians and surgeons in BC.
  • Responsible for establishing, monitoring and enforcing high standards of qualification and medical practice across the province.
  • Coordinates the review and verification of credentials of physicians seeking licensure, the provision of an application for licensure, and the personal interview required of all registrants.
  • Oversees the process for supervision of provisionally licensed physicians.

BC College of Family Physicians

  • The only independent voice for BC's family physicians.
  • Develops continuing education programs tailored to BC family physicians with a focus on:
    • quality patient care, enhancing practice management, professional development.
  • Advocates for family medicine with government and professional partners.
    • advocates for the Patient's Medical Home (PMH) vision for family medicine and provides resources that family practices can use to implement this team-based model of care.

Canadian Association of Staff Physician Recruiters

  • A professional organization for non-profit physician recruiters.
  • Members benefit from sharing best practices, techniques and tools for physician recruitment and retention as well as professional development.
  • CASPR members can post recruitment ads on the CASPR website.

UBC CPD (Continuing Professional Development)

  • Supports physicians to improve knowledge, professional performance, and technical skills through its medical education professional team.

UBC Family Practice Residency Program

  • Delivers two years of evidenced-based training at 18 unique sites across BC, for residents (future locums and permanent family physicians).

Other Resources

Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM)

(Access your local municipality’s website for further information).

  • Two main roles include communicating to local government and advocating at the provincial level for government needs and interests.
  • One policy area is Healthy Communities focused on health promotion and disease prevention- issues include health care funding and rural and remote healthcare.

Hospital Foundations

(Access your local hospital foundation’s website for further information).

  • Raise funds to support health care for families in local communities.
  • Funds are used to meet a range of needs including medical equipment and special community based projects and initiatives such as resident electives.