Physicians face unique challenges. Even clinicians with robust personal support networks stand to benefit tremendously from sharing their experiences with peers who have been in a similar situation and can truly understand and empathize with the pain, stress, vulnerability and fear that are common emotional responses to physician experiences such as patient complaints, adverse events and others. 

In 2023/2024, EVH MSA members were surveyed on physician wellness, and the majority expressed a strong interest in focusing on peer support as a vital aspect of improving wellness among physicians. This enthusiastic response led to the implementation of the EVH MSA Peer Support Program in 2025, with the support and guidance of the Physician Health Program, to help foster a supportive and resilient community for healthcare professionals in the Elk Valley.

Peer support offers a safe way for clinicians to talk about their experience and emotions with someone who has empathy from having “been there”. The focus of peer support is not to fix the problem. Instead, we offer short-term support through non-judgmental listening. We empower you to recognize existing strengths, resource to find strategies that work for you, and will connect you to community resources if needed.

Peer support is essentially psychological first aid. It is not therapy, mentorship from an experienced peer, or direct clinical care.

Peer support might be helpful for physicians who experience work or life stressors and require emotional, non-judgmental support. Examples of this might include:

·       Adverse clinical event (including but not limited to an adverse patient outcome)

·       Patient or college complaint

·       Interpersonal/relational conflict with a patient or colleague

·       Acute life stressor which impacts career (e.g. birth of a new child or bereavement)

·       Struggles with burnout/moral injury

·       A change that has happened at work that impacts you emotionally

You may request peer support for yourself or a colleague in the following ways:

1. Online Referral Form:  For Yourself OR For a Colleague or Friend

2. Email the program administrator directly at elkvalleyphysicians@gmail.com (if you are referring a colleague, please ensure you have their permission prior to requesting support from a physician peer)

3. Our local Peer Supporters are open to informal requests for support sessions, recognizing this is the most utilized form of support requests in other sites within the province. Please ensure you have permission prior to requesting support for a colleague.

Yes! First, reach out to your colleague to seek their consent to pass their name and contact information to our peer support program. Then, please fill out the referral form: Peer Support for a Colleague or Friend

All submitted peer support referral requests will be received by the program administrator, who will reach out for the earliest available peer supporter. Only the matched peer supporter will see identifying information for the purpose of connecting with you or your colleague. 

A local peer supporter will connect with you or your colleague at their earliest opportunity, generally within 24 - 72 hours. 

If you request peer support outside of the EVH MSA and East Kootenay Region, you can expect a match within 1.5 - 2 weeks. Because this process requires coordinating with other organizations, the matching process is a little longer than a local match. If we cannot find you a match within 2 weeks, we will contact you and let you know potential options.

Peer support conversations occur through the modality of your choice – in person, phone call or video call/Zoom. The duration of a conversation will vary based on your needs – generally 15-45 minutes. Peer support relationships are short term, which means that you will likely have one to three conversations with your peer supporter.

Confidentiality is an integral part of our program. Only the peer support program administrator and your peer supporter has access to your name and contact information for the purpose of facilitating a match and contacting you. Peer supporters will not be taking written notes during your conversation (On occasion, a peer supporter might take notes to support them in structuring their conversation with you. These notes will be shredded/destroyed immediately after your conversation.)

There are rare cases where confidentiality must be broken, such as when a physician is at risk of harming themselves or others, or if a peer supporter has a direct reason to believe that someone is at risk for unsafe behaviour. These are the same reasons you might have to break confidentiality in your everyday clinical practice as a physician. If in the rare case that this situation arises, your peer supporter would make you aware of the situation and support a collaborative approach to addressing the concern.

We are delighted to share that the EVH MSA Peer Support Program also offers external physician peer support matching! If you would like to connect with a peer supporter outside of our local Elk Valley or East Kootenay Regions due to confidentiality or any other reason, this is now available through our program.

To get connected with an external peer supporter, please fill out our referral form For Yourself or For a Colleague or Friend,  and indicate that you would like to be matched with someone outside of your local organization. We will email you when a match is made.

How are these external peer supporters trained?

The external peer supporters are trained in the same way as local peer supporters. All peer supporters are provided 4 hours of peer support training through the Physician Health Program  - Joint Collaborative Committees Peer Support Initiatives. They are trained by international peer support expert Dr. Jo Shapiro and PHP Program Physician Dr. Maureen Mayhew.

Is the matching process confidential?

Yes, your contact information will only be shared to the external peer supporter you are matched with so they can reach you. The BC Physician Health Program supports facilitating a match between different peer support programs, but no identifying information is shared with them or organizers from other peer support programs.

When should I expect a match?

You can expect a match within 1.5 - 2 weeks. Because this process requires coordinating with other organizations, the matching process is a little longer than a local match. If we cannot find you a match within 2 weeks, we will contact you and let you know potential options.

Please connect with a member of our Peer Support Team with any further questions or concerns!

Program Lead:

Dr. Sarah Pearce

Program Administrator:

Dana Stimson

✉ elkvalleyphysicians@gmail.com ☎ (604) 997-9791