'Horrible and redundant process': Pediatrician decries how inefficient applying to be a locum in BC can be

A pediatrician who put herself forward as a locum at West Coast General Hospital in Port Alberni, B.C.,says she doesn’t think it was “worth the hassle.” Dr. Alexandra Dionisopoulos has finished pediatric residencies in multiple places in the United States and got her Canadian license after on at McGill University. She then took on rural locums in the Maritimes for about a year, reported Capital Daily. So, when she originally intended to take on four months on Vancouver Island, the pediatrician at West Coast General Hospital she contacted was keen to bring her on. Read: Problem solved: How do you handle patients who have somatic symptom disorder or illness anxiety disorder? “Originally, Port Alberni had two pediatricians, but the other one refused to get vaccinated so he lost his hospital privileges,” Dr. Dionisopoulos told Capital Daily. “So, it's just one pediatrician serving the whole community.” A second pediatrician, available over a longer period of time, would have alleviated the pressure on him.” But, she says, the process of attempting to navigate the province’s rural locum program made her far less enthusiastic about working there. “I don’t know if I’ll come back [to BC],” Dr. Dionisopoulos told Capital Daily. “They just make it so hard for me to be here that it’s just not worth the hassle.” Said hassle started when she first sought to get B.C. lisence, five months before her original intention to start as a locum on July 1. But the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia informed her she couldn’t apply more than three months before she intended to begin. Read: Practice management: Staff job-sharing tips When it came to actually filling out the application, Dr. Dionisopoulos said called it “a horrible and redundant process,” wherein she had to provide numerous transcripts and forms—as did those providing her references. Dr. Dionisopoulos emailed the college back swiftly, but often had to follow up multiple times to get clarity on the he application’s status, Capital Daily reported. Ultimately her start date was pushed back by two weeks. “Generally speaking, the process for fast-tracking physicians who hold licensure in another Canadian jurisdiction is straightforward and delays may be the result of simple matters such as not receiving appropriate paperwork or payment in a timely matter [sic],” noted an emailed statement from the college. Dr. Dionisopoulos also noted the multiple fees for which she was personally responsible, including $1,152 for the application, a $640 fee for registration with the college and several smaller fees to get transcripts and similar documents mailed to the college. “Each time I have to request a certificate of professional conduct . . . it’s $125,” Dr. Dionisopoulos said. “For all of my American exams, I think it cost $75 for me to send just my transcripts.” Read: How to stop patient hostility

'Horrible and redundant process': Pediatrician decries how inefficient applying to be a locum in BC can be

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