Being a physician can be deeply gratifying, but it also comes with stresses and challenges that can take a toll on your health and well-being. Heavy workloads, demanding standards of training and practice, and complex practice environments are just some of the factors that can put any physician at higher risk of personal and professional dissatisfaction, burnout and depression. The impacts of this — on you, on patient care and on the performance of the overall health system — make supporting physician health an imperative for the CMA.
Recognizing the range of challenges physicians face, we advocate for a shared responsibility approach — targeting both individual and systemic factors that negatively affect physician health — as the pathway to meaningful, sustained improvements.
CMA policies on physician health and wellness
Need support?
We encourage you to reach out to your provincial physician health program if you need personal assistance or are in distress.
Select your province below for more information:
Alberta
Physician and Family Support Program
Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
(Provides some service to Yukon)
877-767-4637
pfsp@albertadoctors.org
www.albertadoctors.org/services/pfsp
Alberta’s Physician and Family Support Program (PFSP) offers a 24-hour assistance line operated by an external contractor to maintain confidentiality. You can discuss personal and professional problems with a physician who understands the issues that affect physician health — and will work with you to identify the best resources for your needs. In addition, PFSP can help you access a province-wide network of qualified counselling professionals. Long-term support and resource coordination is also available.
British Columbia
Physician Health Program
Available 24 hours a day
800-663-6729
info@physicianhealth.com
www.physicianhealth.com
A master’s-level intake counsellor will identify your needs and arrange a phone appointment with a program intake physician, who will help further clarify your goals. The program also gives physicians, trainees and their dependents access to a limited number of in-person or over-the-phone counselling or coaching sessions per year at no charge. Services are available to any registrant with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.
Manitoba
Doctors Manitoba Health and Wellness Program
Physician and family support
Available 24 hours a day
844-436-2762
www.docsmbwellness.org
MD Care
Psychiatric access
204-480-1310
Physicians At Risk Hotline
24-hour confidential answering service
204-237-8320
Physicians At Risk is a free, confidential peer assistance program offering you and your family assistance with social, marital, financial, behavioural or chemical dependency issues.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick Medical Society’s Physician Wellness Service
Bilingual services, available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year
877-418-2181
santehealth@nbms.nb.ca
This free, confidential service is available to New Brunswick Medical Society members and their families. The service works with inConfidence, a national employee and family assistance program, to offer access to highly qualified health care professionals located across Canada. All information is kept in the strictest confidence and will not be shared with anyone.
Support is available for a variety of concerns, including those related to work, family and relationships, finances, mental health, parenting and childcare, grief and loss, addiction, emotional well-being, and midlife and retirement.
The New Brunswick Medical Society also offers support services to physicians by physicians through our peer-to-peer mentoring program and MD4MD program.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Physician Care Network
Newfoundland & Labrador Medical Association member and family assistance program
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
877-418-2181 (toll-free)
709-726-7424 for login details
nlma@nlma.nl.ca
www.nlma.nl.ca/Wellness/InConfidence
This program offers round-the-clock, toll-free access to trained counsellors and online resources. It provides monitored referrals and, for additional fees, a substance abuse program. There is no formal program for emergencies.
MDLink Primary Care Program
800-563-2003 (toll-free)
709-726-7424
mdlink@nlma.nl.ca
www.nlma.nl.ca/Wellness/MD-Link
This program matches physician patients with family physician providers. You can refer yourself to this program by contacting the MDLink coordinator. This is not an urgent or emergency service.
Nova Scotia
Professional Support Program
855-275-8215
902-468-8215
professionalsupport@doctorsns.com
doctorsns.com/benefits/professional-support
Expect a response within two business days and an appointment within three or four days, depending on urgency and your schedule.
Ontario
Ontario Medical Association Physician Health Program
Available 8:45 am to 5:00 pm weekdays
(Confidential voicemail monitored by program staff outside these hours)
800-851-6606
php.oma.org
The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Physician Health Program offers an array of services to OMA members. Highly trained, master’s-level intake staff will respond by phone, email or in-person depending on your situation and the nature of your request. The program’s medical physicians supervise calls and are available to speak to you.
Quebec
Quebec Physicians' Health Program (PAMQ)
Available 8:45 am to 4:45 pm weekdays
9 am to 5 pm weekends and statutory holidays
514-397-0888 (Montreal area)
800-387-4166 (elsewhere in Quebec)
info@pamq.org
www.pamq.org/en
During weekday office hours, requests by phone and email are passed on to the physician advisor who will identify problems, determine needs, recommend appropriate resources and make individual referrals for evaluation and treatment purposes. The physician advisor is on call weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm and on weekends and statutory holidays from 9 am to 5 pm (voicemail with callback).
This confidential service is not an emergency service.
Saskatchewan
Physician Health Program
Available 8 am to 5 pm
800-667-3781 (in province)
306-244-2196
www.sma.sk.ca/programs/44/physician-health-program.html
brenda.senger@sma.sk.ca (Director of Physician Support Programs)
On first contact, you’ll discuss your concerns and decide whether referral to an outside agency or direct intervention by the program is best for your circumstances. Further contact may involve a triage assessment of you (and your family). A treatment plan will be established post-assessment.
Confidential contact or referrals can be accessed through the program director at the Saskatchewan Medical Association or through any committee member.
Prince Edward Island
Physician Health Program
Confidential support
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
800-663-6729 (toll-free)
http://mspei.org/PhysicianHealth
This program supports and advocates for PEI physicians, resident doctors and medical students as well as their partners and dependent children. Get support with relationship and workplace issues, mental health, career and life transitions, substance use, concerns for colleagues, burnout, stress management and conflict resolution, and financial issues.
Physician Changemakers
2017 CMA National Physician Health Survey
More than one in four physicians and residents reported high levels of burnout and one in three screened positive for depression
2017 CMA National Physician Health Survey
of physicians and residents reported high resilience
2017 CMA National Physician Health Survey
of residents surveyed were more likely to report burnout and 95% more likely to screen positive for depression than all other physician groups
2017 CMA National Physician Health Survey
of physicians and residents surveyed said they were aware of physician health program services available to them, yet only 15% had accessed them