Sustaining Pediatrics in Rural and Underserved Communities (SPRUCe) is a new network developed by pediatricians Dr. Kirsten Miller and Dr. Jenny Retallack with the support of the Rural Coordination Centre of BC. The goal of the network is to connect community pediatric providers (pediatricians, family physicians, residents, and nurse practitioners) who have an interest in supporting and sustaining excellence in pediatric care in rural and remote communities across British Columbia.
Through SPRUCe, rural and remote pediatric care providers in BC will have access to a network of pediatric providers from across the province who have similar working environments. The development of strong inter-regional relationships will enable sharing of information and peer support. The network will also facilitate the development and implementation of strategies with the primary aim of ensuring that high quality, sustainable pediatric care is available to all children, youth and families in rural and remote BC. Pediatric care providers living in non-rural communities who are interested in rural medicine will also have the chance to connect with rural and remote pediatric care providers to support the provision of rural pediatric care in BC.
Other Upcoming Events
The unspoken aspects of the ACE Questionnaire, and how this may affect responses to ACE questionnaires, will be used to introduce important aspects of Complex Trauma (aka Complex PTSD) that are little known among physicians, yet indispensable for proper interpretation of ACE scores, as well as for working towards healing for trauma survivors. Core neurobiologically-based point-of-care skills that physicians can master to help heal trauma, or to negotiate trauma-rooted difficult behaviours, will be explained and demonstrated. These include point-of-care mindfulness and mentalization tools that we can apply at work or in our personal lives. This learning event is aimed at providing exposure to an initial skill set required to work more effectively with survivors in their quest to “heal past the cycle of trauma”. Registration is limited to keep a small number of participants.
