P088: British Columbia emergency practitioner workforce and training survey

Abstract

Introduction: Understanding physician human resources in British Columbia’s (BC) emergency settings is essential to plan for training, recruitment and professional development programs. In 2014 we conducted an online and phone survey to the site leads for the 95 Emergency Departments (ED) attached to hospitals in BC. Methods: A one-page survey was developed by the authors (JC and JM). Each hospital listed on the BC Ministry of Health’s website was contacted to confirm that they had a functioning ED attached to the hospital and to determine who their site lead was. Each ED site lead was then emailed the questionnaire and up to three more follow-up emails and direct phone requests were performed as needed. Results: 92 of the 95 EDs completed the survey and we discovered that just over 1000 physicians deliver emergency care in BC with approximately half doing so in combination with family practice. There was an estimated shortfall of 199 physicians providing emergency care in 2014 and an anticipated shortfall of 287 by 2017 and 399 by 2019. Slightly more than half had formal certification, with 28% through the Royal College of Canada and 70% with the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Conclusion: More than 1000 physicians care for patients in EDs across BC but there is a significant and growing need for more physicians. There is tremendous variation across health authorities in emergency medicine certification, but approximately half of those who deliver emergency care have formal certification. Despite limitations of a survey method, this provides the most accurate and current estimate of emergency practitioner resources and training in BC and will be important in guiding discussions to address the identified gaps.