KGH Peer Support

Access Peer Support for yourself
Access Peer Support for a Colleague

Physicians face unique challenges, and support from colleagues can have a positive impact on wellbeing and workplace experiences. The BC Physician Health Program (PHP) and Joint Collaborative Committees (JCCs) launched the Physician Peer Support Initiative in Spring 2022, and our organization was selected as one of the peer support sites for 2024.

Physician peer supporters are trained by Dr. Jo Shapiro, Dr Maureen Mayhew and the BC Physician Health Program. Dr. Shapiro is an Associate Professor with Harvard Medical School and founder of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Centre for Professionalism and Peer Support. Dr. Maureen Mayhew offers training on behalf of the BC PHP. She has been a Program Physician with the PHP for several years and is a Professional Certified Life Coach. 

The Physician Peer Support Program at KGH encourages an authentic human connection with another person who shares similar life experiences — in this case, the unique stressors and challenges faced by physicians.

What we offer

The Peer Support program offers confidential, non-clinical emotional support to physician colleagues by trained physician peer supporters in a 1:1 setting. With your permission, we can provide connections to services within the PHP including:

  • 24/7 confidential helpline
  • Short-term counselling
  • Peer support
  • Referrals to specialised coaches and therapists
  • Support for concerned colleagues
  • Connections to a family physician
  • Return to work support
  • Occuptional health consultations
  • Finacial advice
  • Strengthening workplace relationships

Reasons for seeking support may include

  • Dealing with a patient/college complaint,
  • Workplace interpersonal conflict or adverse clinical event,
  • Managing work-life balance,
  • Burnout/moral injury,
  • Or any other situation where you need to speak with someone who understands

Who are your peer supporters at KGH?

Dr. Deema Jassi, Hospitalist Department

Dr. Jassi took an interest in physician wellness during her residency in Miami, FL. She has tried to explore wellness in different cultures including the UK and India. She is looking forward to contributing and learning alongside the KGH team.

Dr. Neil Long, KGH Emergency Department

Dr. Neil Long grew up in the South West of England and did his medical degree some kms north in Nottingham. He did 2 years working in the NHS before starting his emergency medicine training spanning 10 years between New Zealand and Australia. Dr. Long is eager to support creative and innovative ideas in the within KGH.

Dr. Stephen Mostowy, Department of Surgery

Dr. Stephen Mostowy, has been a surgeon at KGH since 2007. He trained at the University of Toronto for medical school, general surgery and vascular surgery. After his training he spent time in Bournemouth, UK and Dublin, Ireland learning new skills. He is thankful for being part of the KGHH medical community, and excited to be part of the KGH Wellness Committee.

Peer Support Resources

Phone:

24/7 line: 1800-663-6729   Office line: 604-398-4300 (Mon to Fri, 8.30 to 4.30)

Email/Website:

www.physicianhealth.com

Description:

Provide the 24/7 line for physicians who may need longer-term, professional physician-specific mental health supportYou as the peer supporter can call the PHP office line during business hours of the 24/7 line after hours for warm transfers (you and the physician are calling together) or to get advice about how to manage a situation.

Phone:

N/A

Email/Website:

Description:

Questions about the Peer Support Initiative and related program information

Phone:

1800-267-6522

Email/Website:

https://www.cmpa-acpm.ca/en/home

Description:

The CMPA is a not-for-profit, mutual defense association which is governed by a council of physicians representing members from across Canada. Contact for medico-legal support.

Phone:

Email/Website:

https://www.cma.ca/physician-wellness-hub

Description:

They provide articles, studies, videos and podcasts to help physicians, residents and medical students manage acute stress, lead healthy lives and establish sustainable medical practices.

Phone:

Email/Website:

https://ombudsoffice.ubc.ca/our-toolkits/resources-for-faculty-and-staff

Description:

Well-supported decision makers and clear, consistent and accessible policies and procedures are critical to student success. Resources for faculty and staff who deal with students and make decisions that affect them.

Phone:

Email/Website:

https://students.ubc.ca/health/health-topics/understanding-stress

Description:

Stress is a normal part of the human experience. However, everyone experiences stress differently and stressors are unique to each person. On this site you will find information on recognizing signs of stress, managing the stress response, and understanding different types of stressors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Physicians face unique challenges. Even clinicians with robust personal support networks stand to benefit tremendously from sharing their experiences with peers who have been in a similar situation and can truly understand and empathize with the pain, stress, vulnerability and fear that are common emotional responses to physician experiences such as patient complaints, adverse events and others. Include other locally relevant rationale.

Peer support offers a safe way for clinicians to talk about their experience and emotions with someone who has empathy from having “been there”. The focus of peer support is not to fix the problem. Instead, we offer short-term support through non-judgmental listening, we empower you to recognize existing strengths and resource to find strategies that work for them and we connect you to community resources if needed. 

Peer support is essentially psychological first aid. It is not therapy, mentorship from an experienced peer, or direct clinical care.

Peer support might be helpful for physicians who experience work or life stressors and require emotional, non-judgmental support. Examples of this might include:

  • Adverse clinical event (including but not limited to an adverse patient outcome)
  • Patient or college complaint
  • Interpersonal/relational conflict with a patient or colleague
  • Acute life stressor which impacts career (e.g. birth of a new child or bereavement)
  • Struggles with burnout/moral injury
  • A change that has happened at work that impacts you emotionally

Please contact

Yes! First, reach out to your colleague to seek their consent to pass their name and contact information to our peer support program. Then, please contact

Your Peer Supporter will reach out to you as soon as possible, generally within 3-4 business days

Peer support conversations occur through the modality of your choice – in person, phone call or video call/Zoom. The duration of a conversation will vary based on your needs – generally 15-45 minutes. Peer support relationships are short term, which means that you will likely have one to three conversations with your peer supporter.

Confidentiality is an integral part of our program. Only the peer support program administrator and your peer supporter has access to your name and contact information for the purpose of facilitating a match and contacting you. Peer supporters will not be taking written notes during your conversation (On occasion, a peer supporter might take notes to support them in structuring their conversation with you. These notes will be shredded/destroyed immediately after your conversation.) 

There are rare cases where confidentiality must be broken, such as when a physician is at risk of harming themselves or others, or if a peer supporter has a direct reason to believe that someone is at risk for unsafe behaviour. These are the same reasons you might have to break confidentiality in your everyday clinical practice as a physician. If in the rare case that this situation arises, your peer supporter would make you aware of the situation and support a collaborative approach to addressing the concern. 

Please contact

Peer Support Resources (for peer supporters only – password protected)

We extend our sincere appreciation to the to the Physician Health Program (PHP) and the Joint Collaborative Committee for their invaluable support