Updated 29 November 2011
The Preceptor Program provides opportunity for family physicians, particularly those from outside major urban centres, to strengthen their oncology skills and enhance cancer care in their communities. Our aim is to have at least one family physician in every BC community with 15,000 people who has completed this program and can support all aspects of cancer care for local patients and their families.
If you are interested in enhancing your oncology knowledge and skills, are willing to take on these responsibilities in your community, and have the support of your colleagues and other local health care providers, then this is the program for you. Sixty-five family physicians from 34 different communities have completed the program to date and are actively practising as General Practitioners in Oncology. (See GPO/Preceptor Map.) The Agency also trains GPOs and nurse practitioners for its various sites through this program.
The BC Cancer Agency developed the Preceptor Program in 2004, with the support of the UBC's Department of Family Practice Enhanced Skills Program and with input from many family physicians. The program is offered in a flexible, modular format that can be taken in eight consecutive weeks or over a one-year period. The two-week introductory module is offered every February and September at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver focusing on medical and radiation oncology, surgery, cancer screening, oncological emergencies, diagnostic imaging and cancer site specific management updates. This first session also includes the opportunity to attend clinical rounds and tumour site conferences.
The remaining modules can be completed at any of the Agency’s five Cancer Centres, including the Abbotsford Centre, the Centre for the Southern Interior in Kelowna, the Fraser Valley Centre in Surrey, the Vancouver Centre or the Vancouver Island Centre in Victoria and participants are encouraged to tailor their learning specific to their community’s needs. Course information also includes risk factors, genetics, prevention, screening, early diagnosis, staging, treatment modalities and management of side effects, follow-up and surveillance procedures, palliative care, future advances and methods to remain current and teach others.
Special thanks are extended to the BC Cancer Agency physicians and members of the Preceptor Working Group who prepare the education materials for these modules and deliver the training.
Participants who complete the Preceptor Program are eligible to receive credit from the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Those who are from REAP eligible (Rural Education Plan as defined by the BC Medical Association, the Ministry of Health and the University of British Columbia) communities can apply through UBC Department of Family Medicine (see Oncology) to receive a stipend and to have their travel and accommodation expenses covered. Physicians from other communities can apply to UBC’s Department of Family Practice Enhanced Skills Program to receive remuneration at a third year residency level while they are in the program. There is also a scholarship opportunity available from the Canadian Association of General Practitioners in Oncology.
If your community would benefit from having a family physician with enhanced knowledge and skills in oncology, please consider the Preceptor Program. To get a better idea of the impact of this program, please have a look at the testimonials from some of our graduates. See a complete listing of all General Practitioners in Oncology/Preceptors Listed by Community. If you have any questions about the Preceptor Program or would like more information, please e-mail Gail Compton or call her directly at 604.707.6367.