Northern Health Welcomes Six New Doctors
Prince George, B.C. – It’s just what the doctor ordered for rural B.C.
Northern Health is welcoming six new family physicians into Northern B.C. through the province’s Practice Ready Assessment Program (PRA-BC) – three into Quesnel, and one each into Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge and Dawson Creek.
All of these physicians have successfully completed the PRA-BC process under which doctors undergo “a rigorous assessment process, spending three months with a B.C. physician who evaluates their skills as they care for patients.”
Those who successfully complete the program must commit to practice for at least three years in a rural community in need of a doctor.
The trio of doctors headed for Quesnel will start practicing this month while the other three will start this September.
The PRA-BC program represents a partnership between the Ministry of Health and Doctors of BC and was created to help strengthen health care in rural and remote regions of the province.
The program was launched in April 2015 and has received $7.6 million in funding to date.
Comments
That’s good news. Overall are we losing or gaining doctors in the north?
My guess is that their is still an acute shortage of Doctors in BC.
The PRA-BC program was established by the Province of BC in 2015 as an assessment program for internationally educated family physicians who have completed residencies in Family Medicine outside of Canada.
This program will provide qualified family physicians with a pathway to licensure in BC. Applicants must meet certain criteria and take a 12 week course .
Upon selection by health authorities and completion of PRA-BC program requirements, candidates will fulfill a three-year return of service (ROS) within the designated communities.
And where will the other three go?
Our Mackenzie Dr’s are once again overworked, and dog tired.
Norther Health had better send some here, or once again all the great Dr’s we do have, will get burnt out and leave.
When will they learn not to burn out our Dr’s so that some of the really good ones would actually stay!
You must have skipped past the part of the story that states “three into Quesnel, and one each into Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge and Dawson Creek”.
Oops yes I did Thank you for pointing that out to me. Sadly that just proves that again, we will have tired worn out Dr’s who will leave town because they need down time and desperately need some sleep. Aside from that Northern Health took away our small surgical area, so our Dr’s here are also short term because they will lose surgical rights if they stay here too long, it’s a mess. It’s no wonder our family Dr’s only stay short term. :(
“The PRA-BC program was launched in April 2015 and has received $7.6 million in funding to date.”
A good news story on the surface, however few people know that Northern Health ran a $9.7 million dollar operating deficit last year.
A drop in the bucket when you look at the overtime money being paid out. And that boondoggle known as “sick time”.
If you have bad habits like smoking, excessive drinking, drug use, poor eating choices, sedentary lifestyle, etc, your health will suffer and you will eventually need more medical care.
How often does your doctor come right out and tell you to stop smoking, eat healthier, get more exercise? They probably should be more blunt, but then would you listen?
Sometimes it takes a life-altering situation to make a change for the better, and hopefully it is just a wake-up call and not a life-ending one.
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