Connecting the Dots

This episode features an interview with Dr. John Pawlovich on how virtual care is reshaping access to health care, particularly for patients and clinicians in rural, remote and underserved communities.
Dr. Pawlovich brings over 25 years of clinical experience in remote communities across BC. He is also a clinical professor and chair in rural health at the University of British Columbia. In addition, he serves as director of the Rural Education Action Plan, medical director for Carrier Sekani Family Services, and virtual health lead for the Rural Coordination Centre of BC.

This episode features an interview with Dr. Karen Shklanka on strategies for managing patient expectations, such as when a patient arrives with a firm idea of a diagnosis or a request for a specific test.  Dr. Shklanka shares communication strategies and discusses the concept of self-compassion when managing conflict.
Dr. Shklanka is a family physician, as well as an addiction and pain medicine consultant. She is lead faculty for behavioural medicine and clinical assistant professor at the Vancouver Fraser Site of UBC's Family Practice Program.
Resources mentioned during the episode:
What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine by Dr. Danielle Ofri
Self-Compassion Institute with Dr. Kristin Neff

This episode features an interview with Dr. Bella Wu on the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine and considerations for its safe and ethical use.  Dr. Wu explains how she has adopted AI into her practice and how she navigates its strengths and challenges.
Dr. Wu is an otolaryngologist from Richmond, BC, and an early adopter of AI. Last year, she participated in a three-month AI scribe pilot, coordinated through the Specialist Services Committee and Doctors of BC.
Resources mentioned during the episode:
CPSBC interim guidance: Ethical Principles for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

This episode features an interview with Laurie Dokis, who is from the Dokis First Nation and a member of the Anishinabek Nation in Ontario. Laurie is a registered nurse with more than 30 years of clinical experience focusing on advancing anti-racism and cultural safety. She is also the co-chair of the Inquiry Committee of the BC College of Nurses and Midwives and sits on the BC Health Regulators' Indigenous Community of Practice.
Through stories and real-life examples from her personal and professional journey, Laurie offers valuable insights into what Indigenous cultural safety looks like in practice.

This episode features an interview with Dr. Ingrid Cosio on creating a safe and inclusive practice for gender-diverse patients.
Dr. Cosio is the medical director at Trans Care BC. She has been a family physician in Prince George for 20 years and is the physician lead for the Northern Gender Clinic.
Resources mentioned during the episode:
Trans Care BC
The Education Centre
ECHO: Gender-Affirming Primary Care
Creating affirming services
Gender Inclusive Language (PDF)
Making Mistakes (PDF) 
Fenway Institute: Affirmative Services for Transgender and Gender-diverse People – Best Practices for Frontline Health Care Staff (PDF)
We Are Allies

This episode features Dr. Mei-Ling Wiedmeyer on the importance of language interpretation in health care.
Dr. Wiedmeyer is a family physician and clinical assistant professor in the UBC department of family practice. She works for a community health centre that uses a novel team-based care model with cross cultural health brokers to provide comprehensive primary care to refugees, immigrants and migrant populations. She is also the co-principal investigator of the Evaluating Inequities in Refugee and Immigrants’ Health Access Project.

To mark National Indigenous History Month, we are releasing two episodes discussing what the College and its registrants can do to provide Indigenous patients with culturally safe care.
Part two features an interview with Dr. Leah Seaman on how physicians can become allies and incorporate culturally safe practices into their work. Dr. Seaman is a family physician who practises in BC and the Northwest Territories. She is a physician partner in the Kootenay-Boundary Aboriginal Services Collaborative and sits on the Indigenous Health Committee at the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

To mark National Indigenous History Month, we are releasing two episodes discussing what the College and its registrants can do to provide Indigenous patients with culturally safe care.
Part one features an interview with Mark Matthew on the systemic challenges and opportunities in our health system as it navigates towards culturally safe care. Mark has worked in Indigenous health for over 16 years and is currently the director of Indigenous Health with Health Quality BC.

For our first episode, we had the opportunity to talk with the College's new registrar and CEO, Dr. Patrick Rowe. We discussed his priorities for the College over the coming years, and how he plans to continue the College's work towards addressing Indigenous-specific racism in the health-care system. We also asked him how the College can play a role in managing the physician shortage, and to share his views on the upcoming transition to the Health Professions and Occupations Act.