Why is IECPCP important on a broad, systems based, level?
Basically, the system is failing. Practitioners can’t keep up with the pace of the current healthcare system and I think we’re going to see, and indeed are seeing, burn out in all areas. I say this from my perspective as a family physician but I suspect it’s the same for all other professionals. There are many solutions to this including reducing duplication, omissions and errors. The way to do this is to improve communication and this is done through greater collaboration.
Why is IECPCP important for you?
When I go to discipline specific presentations I still get resistance from some family physicians. It is changing but there is still resistance. Because of this, I think about why IECPCP matters to me often and what role I play in fostering it. I can look at my personal experiences with hindsight and say that they have directed me towards working with other professions. For example, my first year university roommate was a nursing student and in my second year I went and lived for three and half months in South America doing medical outreach with a physiotherapist student and a nursing student. As I was going through my undergraduate degree I was made aware of other disciplines that were going through similar courses but also had a different culture and perspective on the same content. As I went through my medical degree I did an elective with a midwifery group and I did a month in a public health vaccination clinic during which I had a chance to work with a nurse practitioner (NP) as well as community health nurses. I’ve seen the first hand benefits of IPE, even though it was done through my extracurricular activities, and it has influenced how I continue to work with others.
Examples from your life when IP worked (maybe a personal experience as a patient or with a family member)?
I did training in Northern Ontario in a primary care setting. Family physicians in Northern Ontario are responsible for many communities which they visit on a rotating basis along with nurse aides, a mid-wife and others. The NP is the fixture. I found this type of collaborative practice very efficient. Everyone it seemed worked to the edge of their scope of practice but not beyond. The system was efficient enough that when you got to the edge of your scope of practice, the most appropriate care-giver was there to step in. At the UBC Health Clinic I’ve worked really hard to mimic this type of efficiency. That said I’m still looking for an urban academic system that works like it does in the rural setting. Members of the healthcare team all ask different questions and I’m working on how we bring those answers together in an urban setting in the same efficient way we did in the rural setting.
Examples from your life when you wish you had seen more IP in action?
I think that sometimes there is difficulty in putting everything together and sometimes you see that a team is developed simply for the sake of having a team. The movement towards IP and CP has to be right model and when the models are wrong things can fall down pretty quickly.
What song best carries the IP spirit?
The Beatles “Come Together”.
Food that carries the IP spirit?
Pizza. You get the flavours of each individual ingredient and put all together into one thing, it works really well.
What fictional character is a good IP role model?
Harry Potter, he’s collaborative and he works with others strengths.
Where would you like CIHC to be in 5 years?
I’d like CIHC to be better known. For example, we all know the CAIPE definition of IPE, I use it all the time in presentations. I’d like something like the CIHC National Competency Framework to be as well known and as commonly used as that CAIPE definition.
