PAW Network

Physicians Advocating Wellness – How We Started

There is something new and exciting happening in physician health these days – groups of Physicians Advocating Wellness (PAW groups) are popping up in various communities around the province.

But how did these grassroots groups come together?

The concept of local physician health advocacy groups was developed a few years ago by Dr. Paul Farnan, the former executive director of the Physician Health Program of BC (PHP). In his experience with physicians and their health issues, Paul recognized a pattern in which doctors would consult the PHP only when there was a fully developed problem. His vision was to create community based networks that were focused on education and prevention, and that would work to encourage doctors to get help earlier for problems that might later become serious. He recognized that any program to promote physician health and well-being needed to encompass both physicians’ personal and professional lives. And he didn’t want a cataclysmic event such as a physician suicide to be the only way to rally the medical community into taking action around physician health.

In July 2007 and again in September 2007, he invited B.C. doctors and administrators with an interest in championing physician health to join with him in developing a vision of a network of physician health champions from local communities around the province.

A network of physicians soon became established. Working closely with the Physician Health Program, yet separate from it, this network of physicians started seeking to form small local groups of physician health champions within their respective communities.

In January, 2008, when Dr. Andrew Clarke was appointed the PHP’s new executive director, he built upon the momentum created by the face-to-face meetings that had taken place the previous year. In a series of monthly conference calls, the network started to plan how best to share, cooperate and in some cases collaborate to promote physician health in BC. One of the first things the network decided on was to use the catchy “PAW” tag to describe the local groups of physicians. The tag was originally conceived by a group of Maple Ridge physicians who had been using the name for their own local group.

To preserve the initial momentum, the goal is to have many more PAW groups across the province. Local groups often bring in speakers, look out for colleagues, help their families, and generally focus on overall physician physical, emotional and mental wellness, whether it’s how to be a physician to other physicians, how to handle aggressive colleagues or how to deal with family issues such as relationship problems.

To that end, here are some tips for launching one in your community:

Find a core group of people who are passionate about physician wellness and committed to setting up a program and making it work. This involves time and creativity.

Plan an event. It can be as simple as inviting a group of physicians to a restaurant for dinner to encourage often-needed collegiality, or as formal as arranging for a speaker to facilitate a group discussion on a relevant topic, such as physician depression, compassionate communication, or more non-professional themes such as financial planning. Events are particularly important for doctors without hospital privileges, as they may lack connection with other doctors. Isolation can play a big role in a variety of physician health issues.

Liaise with your local health authority for funding. Marketing can be a useful component in setting up a PAW program, and the health authorities can help with funding for such things.

Finally, call the PHP for more information: 604-742-0747.

Physicians understand what other physicians experience professionally on a daily basis. PAW groups embrace not only the professional aspects of a doctor’s life, but the personal as well. And that is good for physicians, their families, patients and communities.