Physician to launch program to help doctors be better peer supporters

A Manitoba doctor is creating a peer support program that will teach physicians how to respond when their colleagues reach out for help. Dr. Jacqueline Gougeon, a Winnipeg family physician who also provides low-risk obstetrical and newborn care, is working with support from Well Doc Canada and Doctors Manitoba to set up the program, which is expected to launch in June 2023. “There is more demand than there are physicians—there’s that constant pressure to take on more and more, especially since the pandemic,” she said. “I think it’s really important to move away from treating burnout and managing it to asking: how do we prevent it?” The new program will work to give physicians more effective skills, such as empathetic listening, for supporting their peers, according to an article in UM News, the official publication of the University of Manitoba, where Dr. Gougeon is education director and a lecturer in the department of family medicine. Read: Want to get away from it all? As a busy physician, academic leader and mother of three young children, Dr. Gougeon has first-hand experience with burnout. She remembered one particular evening when she was called to the hospital for what she thought would be a quick procedure to deliver an infant. By 3 a.m., she was still in the hospital and was exhausted, physically and mentally. “I honestly considered quitting obstetrics, thinking this is just not working for me,” recalled Dr. Gougeon. “I can’t do this on top of everything else.” But those thoughts were short-lived. She successfully delivered the baby and learned soon after that the grateful parents named their new child after her. Read: Are negative biases toward family medicine forming early in med school? “Professional fulfillment doesn’t have to come in the form of someone naming a baby after you,” said Dr. Gougeon. “But workplace satisfaction is still an important piece of the puzzle.” She noted that the new peer support program isn’t meant to replace existing resources, such as those offered by Doctors Manitoba or MDCare, but instead will add to the support available to the province’s physicians. A peer support group could also be viewed by some doctors as a stepping stone to other services. “Reaching out to those services might be a big step for somebody, whereas peer support can be sort of an informal touch base and then figure out together what might be the next steps.” Watch: Video: 4 ways to take time off as a physician

Physician to launch program to help doctors be better peer supporters

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