Visit the new Enhanced Surgical Skills in Canada web site
The National Working Group on Enhanced Surgical Skills (ESS) represents a large number of volunteers drawn from the shallow pool of those experienced and active in ESS training programs and practice in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, along with interested national partners. The ESS National Working Group is chaired by Dr. Robert Woollard, Professor, UBC and Associate Director of RCCbc.
The National Working group is striving to accumulate evidence on the erosion of rural surgical programs and the collateral loss – local maternity programs, critical care, and the recruitment and retention of a sustainable health care workforce in these communities.
Goals
- To develop a generic core curriculum for the teaching and evaluation of Enhanced Surgical Skills (ESS) for rural Family Physicians
- To develop and deliver continuing professional development programs based on the needs of the ESS practitioners and their communities
- To pursue a collaborative model of distributed ESS education amongst the participating medical schools
- To submit a formal application to the CFPC for accreditation of ESS as a Group 1 program (e.g. Emergency Medicine, Family Practice Anesthesia)
Significant financial contributions from the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc), the Alberta College of Family Physicians (ACFP), the Alberta Rural Physician Action Plan (RPAP), the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA), and the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC) have provided a budget for core development activities.
To contact members of the ESS National Working Group, please forward your request to Sharon Mah, Communications Manager, via email or by phone toll-free at 1 877 908-8222
