FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Conferences, Workshops, or Courses
Continuing Medical Education Fund
The Continuing Medical Education (CME) Fund is an annual benefit that assists physicians with educational expenses. You don’t need to apply for this benefit because the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC transfers the necessary data to Doctors of BC, but to receive the funds you need to sign up for direct deposit with Doctors of BC. For more info, contact the Benefits Department (see info below).
Phone: 1-800-665-2262 ext. 2929 (toll free)
Email: [email protected]
Eldercare Foundation
Eldercare’s mission to improve care and enhance quality of life for local seniors has never been more important, as the global pandemic has exposed several urgent needs for our elderly.
- Kully Sekhon Memorial Education Fund
- supports healthcare workers on Vancouver Island in taking courses, attending workshops or conferences, or giving presentations at workshops or conferences; special consideration will be given to those attending sessions around inter-cultural and cross-cultural communication
- course work or focus of workshop/conference must benefit care for the elderly
- R.S. Young Memorial Geriatric Medical Education Fund
- provides support for physicians to attend education/conferences related to geriatric care
- any physician living in the Greater Victoria region with medical staff privileges in VIHA is eligible to apply
Facility Engagement
Launched by the Specialist Services Committee in 2016, Facility Engagement (FE) is a BC-wide initiative to strengthen communication, relationships and collaboration between facility-based physicians and their health authorities. The goal is to increase meaningful physician involvement in health authority decisions about their work environment and the delivery of patient care.
To get involved:
- Get the support of the entire medical staff and the facility’s local administration. If your site has an active MSA (medical staff association) and local support, your Engagement Partner (EP) can help you draft a joint letter of support for submission for start-up funding.
- Your facility can then be approved for start-up funding of up to $75,000, to help establish a meaningful, representative governance structure that suits your facility.
- Once this structure is in place, your MSA/Society is eligible for annual funding depending on the size of the facility. Start-up funding varies according to size of the facility and number of acute care beds.
- Training
- Non-clinical training: Non-clinical training that supports the organizational development and effective stewardship of MSAs (e.g., effective communication, conflict resolution, running effective meetings, and consensus decision making).
- Non-required clinical training: Non-required clinical training only if it involves multiple physicians’ groups or the majority of the MSA. CME credits may be claimed from these trainings but FE funds cannot be used to pay physicians’ sessionals for attending non-required CME accredited clinical training.
- Eligible expenses (to attend meetings or conferences): all expenses must be accompanied by a receipt. Where receipts are missing, proof of purchase credit card statements will suffice.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch and/or dinner expenses while attending the meeting/event, or spent on travel to and from the meeting/event, are eligible for reimbursement. Meal expenses will be capped at $100 per day. Where a meal is provided free of charge, no claim for that meal can be made
- Accommodation: A maximum of $220 excluding tax per night is available for accommodation. Between May 1st and September 30th, a maximum of $280 including tax will be available. Accommodation expenses are not eligible for reimbursement where the conference, event or meeting is less than 50km from the claimant’s personal residence. FE funds cannot be used to cover accommodation costs for locum or medical students/resident placements
- Travel and Vehicle Expense: Travel expenses will be reimbursed for the most expeditious route of travel (e.g., economy airfare, taxis, car rentals, parking costs). Private vehicle mileage will be reimbursed (at the rate set in FEMS via Doctors of BC policy) where one -way travel from the claimant’s personal residence or office exceeds 50km
- Travel Time: Travel time using the most expeditious route may be paid at the sessional rate for time away from the office during business hours only
- Parking and registration expenses required for attending the meeting/event
Email: To connect with the South Island MSA (for VGH and Royal Jubilee Hospital), email [email protected]