UBC Rural Continuing Professional Development

UBC Rural Continuing Professional Development (RCPD) is a partnership between the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s Division of Continuing Professional Development (UBC CPD) and the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc) and is funded by the Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues (JSC), a joint collaborative committee of the Doctors of BC and BC Ministry of Health.

Through this partnership, RCPD has delivered education across rural and remote British Columbia to hundreds of health professionals. In person and online, thousands of hours have been dedicated to teaching and learning in communities across the province.

The UBC RCPD team alongside RCCbc team members and instructors at the Rural POCUS Congress in Whistler, BC.

Achievements

Delivered Training in Trauma Sensitive Practice

UBC Rural CPD continues to deliver the Nawh Whu’nus’en – We See in Two Worlds: Trauma Sensitive Practices for Collectively Healing in Relationship Workshops.

In 2024 the team delivered five Level 1 Workshops, reaching a total of 227 participants. Three Level 2 Workshops were delivered, reaching a total of 108 participants.

Since the launch of this program, over 500 people have been trained in the foundational elements of trauma sensitive practice. This helps us move closer to our goal of improving Indigenous health outcomes by increasing access to culturally safe care for Indigenous Peoples and communities in rural and remote BC.

Hosted the First Rural POCUS Congress

As part of the BC Rural Health Conference, the team delivered the first-ever Rural POCUS Congress on May 23, 2024. This event drew on the incredible network of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) champions in rural BC to develop and deliver an event that focused on enhancing proficiency in point-of-care ultrasound use, supporting learners to increase confidence in using POCUS in a rural setting through live scanning stations to provide hands-on skills building.

Participants were given the opportunity to practice skills in a wide variety of applications including ocular, lumbar puncture, lung, and MAK. The majority of participants noted that the experience at the Congress allowed them to build confidence in scanning and will allow them to improve their clinical capacity.

The UBC RCPD team look forward to offering this event again in 2026.

Support for International Medical Graduates and New-to-Rural Practice Physicians

The Personal Learning Plans Program continues to grow and support International Medical Graduates and new-to-rural practice physicians. In 2024, the program supported approximately 40 participants across the province. Seasoned Physician Advisors, paired with skilled CPD concierges meet with participants to help them identify their learning needs and goals. Once identified, the team develops a tailored learning plan and connects them with other key provincial supports to help them feel supported and begin to meet their learning goals.

RCPD were able to support learners on a wide variety of topics including Emergency Skills, Billing, Exam Support, POCUS, Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Substance Use, Opioid Prescribing, Pain Management, and Mental Health – all incredibly important topics for the health and well-being of rural people and communities.

Feedback from participants demonstrates the impact the program can have:

“Not knowledge, but other aspects of practicing in Canada, because we have gone through medical school and training in a different country. […] the systems can be different. So that can be, sometimes, challenging to navigate the systems that exist here for patient care.

Explore the numbers

14 HOUSE Course Days

During 2024, RCPD delivered 14 HOUSE course days.

750+ Hours

750+ hours of coaching and mentoring time was supported during 2024.

300+ Participants

300+ participants were reached through the Rural POCUS Rounds virtual sessions.

500+ Trainees

500+ participants were trained in trauma sensitive practice skills.

Project Partnership

The UBC RCPD Real-Time Virtual Support (RTVS) Simulation Program has been collaborating with the Rural and Remote Practice Team (RRPT) at First Nation Health Authority (FNHA) to deliver simulation-based education to support nurses to consult virtually with RTVS providers. The goal of this partnership is to build confidence using the RTVS service and build clinical skills in a supportive environment.

In 2024, the RTVS Simulation Team delivered seven simulations to the RRPT nurses covering a variety of clinical topics.

A success story from this collaboration: A RTVS sim facilitator shared that she and an FNHA nurse had a favourable outcome in a real cardiac emergency case, which she attributed to a recent RTVS simulation that featured/simulated almost the exact clinical scenario they faced. The patient in this real clinical scenario survived, and much excitement was expressed by the nurse that she was able to walk through a practice case in advance with the RTVS sim facilitator.

“Thank you so much for collaborating with us on our recent sim. Each time we include the RTVS team, our participants tell us how much it will change their practice. It’s really amazing to see! I look forward to working with you again in the future.”

RTVS Sim Participant

Making a Difference

Feedback from learners demonstrates the value that having rurally focused CPD has on their practice.

Following an impactful virtual Rural Rounds session, Squamish Search and Rescue (SAR) added a new warming kit to their response equipment as a direct result of the Dec 12, 2024, ‘Managing Hypothermia in the Rural Setting’ session with speaker Dr. Doug Brown.

“It changed me. Changed my lens… the way I experience patients and myself… profound learning!”

Nawh Whu’nus’en Workshop Participant

“I have really enjoyed and think I have really benefitted from the opportunity to hear of the current practice and challenges faced by my colleagues in other hospitals around the province.”

FPA Journal Club Participant

Plans for the Future

UBC RCPD is committed to continuing to support rural health professionals in BC through existing programming, and continually adapting to meet the unique needs of learners. The team are also excited to explore new opportunities this coming year to support critical care education and training for rural health professionals as well as the development and implementation of new procedural courses.