A University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (UHNBC) and Prince George Medical Staff Physician Association (PGMSA) collaboration.
Working in different hospitals and locations comes as part of the training to be a physician, but once graduated things change. The supports and people who helped a physician to manage during training usually disappear.
UHNBC and PGMSA recognized the need to have more supports in place to ensure new physician hires have as much time as possible to focus on patient care.
In 2021, they launched a joint onboarding project as part of a broader initiative undertaken by Northern Health for hiring medical staff. This is focused specifically on supporting newly hired physicians, many of whom have moved from other places in Canada, and even other countries – making them new to the community of Prince George as well as the hospital.
The project began with a job post for a single Physician Onboarding Champion to develop and implement a robust onboarding process to support physicians through their first year.
Two physicians responded – family physician Dr. Lauren Feldhoff and general surgeon Dr. Erin Martin – and were hired to work together on the project, which brought several advantages. They were both relatively new hires whose fresh knowledge of their experiences and combined perspectives as a GP and a Specialist helped create a more comprehensive and well-rounded onboarding process.
- links to many resources
- critical steps for licensing/credentialing, day-to-day practice tips
- information about how UHNBC specialities and services are organized to improve interprofessional team work, setting up charting and billing
- tips on how to open a practice (find space, hire staff, etc.)
- information about living in Prince George
“It’s really a reality check about how much time this all takes. Brand new graduates don’t know how long it will take to get their license or how long it will take to get privileges or an MSP number.”
Drs Feldhoff and Martin then conducted several focus groups with newly hired physicians, who were provided with a rough draft of the comprehensive onboarding guide to review before meeting.
“We talked about the goal of the document and explored where they found challenges with onboarding and what they would have liked to have seen done,” said Dr Feldhoff.
Drs Feldhoff and Martin noted that those in the focus groups said they wished they’d had the information when they first started because it would have made their lives much easier and allowed them to focus more on their patients rather than administrative issues.
Other concerns were raised during the focus groups that were outside the purview of the project, but impacted the work. Examples of these concerns included:
- access to clinic space
- access to child care
- scheduling surgical assists
- improved access to order sets and requisitions
- upgrading the UHNBC website
Drs Feldhoff and Martin documented these concerns for Northern Health, met with Department Heads for their feedback and made themselves available to work at addressing these additional issues. They recently received funding from PGMSA to explore solutions to address the concerns, which includes piloting a surgical assist call schedule.
The final onboarding program is still in development. Plans include:
- holding an orientation week before physicians start their clinical obligations to spend time with IT and other relevant departments
- having some physicians dedicated to meeting new staff during orientation week to answer questions and get to know each other
- ensuring all administrative issues such as credentialling/licensing, parking passes, hospital swipe cards, etc. are in place
- holding regular check-ins with Drs Feldhoff and Martin during the first couple of months of starting work
Drs Feldhoff and Martin both agree that the best part of working on the project was getting to know each other. “It’s been great that the work we are doing is being appreciated and people are interested – so it’s very motivating to continue.”
They acknowledge the great support they received from PGMSA through Renata Chapman, project manager and Dr Ian Schokking.
The work continues, and it is expected that newly hired physicians starting in 2022 will find their transition much smoother and their time better spent with patients and their care.
For a copy of the onboarding package, please contact feuhnbc@outlook.com.
The Prince George Medical Staff Physician Association is grateful for the funding provided by the Specialist Services Committee Facility Engagement Initiative to support these initiatives