• Create a safe space for peers to share experiences and seek emotional support
• Listen non-judgmentally, validate, and empathize with the experience of peers
• Empower peers to recognize existing strengths and resources, and build on coping strategies that work for them
• Connect peers with community resources if they need support beyond the scope of peer support
• Promote a broader sense of community and a postive, supportive workplace culture

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

• 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

When a peer support request is received, program administrators will match to physician peer supports based largely on availability. Career stage and pre-existing professional connections may also play a role. 

If a physician has a special demographic request such as gender, specialty, race, etc., program administrators will try to accommodate. The scope of peer support and the training provided aims to enable all peer supporters to emotionally support any colleague regardless of their demographics. 

Once a match takes place, physicians will be connected with their peer supporter. 

Peer support is short-term, emotional, non-clinical support. It is not therapy, clinical advice, or mentorship. 

The conversation modality (in-person, virtual, or by phone) will be mutually decided between the peer supporter and the referred physician. Generally, peer support will be short-term in nature (1-3 conversations). If the referred physician requires support beyond a few conversations, the peer supporter will offer an appropriate referral. 

Peer support can be very useful if you are feeling upset about an adverse patient event or a tough clinical case, but a clinical discussion is out of scope for a peer supporter. If you want to talk about your case and mention clinical aspects, that’s okay. Your peer supporter can give you the space to talk about it and will focus on the emotional pieces of your experience. If you need clinical input on a patient, the RACE line is a great place to start. 

As this is a pilot program, a short evaluation will be sent at the conclusion of peer support interactions. 

Want to make a meaningful impact on your colleagues’ lives and develop your communication skills? Consider training as a peer supporter. The next remunerated one-day training session will be held in November 2024. We are seeking Greater Victoria physicians interested in joining our peer support team.

For more information, contact peersupport@southislandmsa.ca.