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A podcast that brings together primary care providers, healthcare planners, patients, innovators and others to talk about the changes that are happening in primary care in British Columbia.
Morgan: Did season five expand your
knowledge about primary care roles?
Do you want a quick
summary of what we learned?
Are you interested in what
season six might hold?
Yeah, me too.
Sarah: So here we are wrapping up
season five of the Team Up Podcast.
Morgan: We are Sarah and I'm feeling
really grateful for all the guests
that have been here, helping us
learn, throughout this whole season,
you managed to pull in so many
different talented people who were
really committed to primary care.
Sarah: I totally agree, Morgan,
and I feel like, we got to talk
to so many interesting people,
which is one of my favorite things.
And finally kind of being able to pull
in all those different voices, which
is something we've been talking about
for a while and felt like we were
really able to do this season and you
know, also you, I, I still like talking
about primary care with you after
five seasons, so , that's pretty good.
Morgan: Yeah, over 50 episodes now.
Sarah: I mean, I think I'd have to also
really stress that, you know, compared
to our earlier seasons, this really was
a team effort for us here at the isu.
So special thanks to Jo and Erza for all
their support with, reviewing transcripts
and pulling quotes and connecting with
guests, and especially to Tlell who really
volunteered to help out, , a bit at the
start of the season and quickly became
an instrumental part of our writing team.
Morgan: Absolutely.
I mean, kudos from me too.
To the team, they really stepped into
this season, and Sarah for you too.
This was our biggest season
yet and it really came together
Sarah: And it's only gonna get bigger.
Right.
But moving back to, kinda season
highlights . , are there any
specific highlights that jump out
for you from this season, morgan?
Morgan: Yeah, so I, I obviously
can't say the physician episode.
That'd be just too obvious.
Uh, but really no, it
is, it is hard to choose.
I.
And a couple do stand out for
me in terms of what I learned.
I think the social worker role from
episode five, , I've worked with social
workers in different contexts, but not
a lot in my own practice over the years.
And I think it was really helpful
and clear about how much a social
worker is a connector within and
beyond the primary care team.
So I think that was one
that stood out for me.
MOAs also, I'm glad to bring them into the
team more fully and highlight their roles.
There's just so much they
do, and often they don't get
remembered and underutilized when
we talk about team-based care.
So I, you know, kudos to all the MOAs
that I've worked with and I do value them
in all the teams that I've worked with.
They've been so important for
my patients in helping me get
through my day in my practice.
How about you, Sarah?
What jumped out for you?
, Sarah: I agree.
It's, it was really hard to choose.
I think the episode on indigenous
liaisons and advocates episode eight
was really full of so much learning.
I just loved, hearing , from
our two, interviews there.
And actually episode two on patients
was also, I just think a great starting
point for the season and you know,
an important reminder about how we
create teams that include patients,
not just teams that serve patients.
The nursing roles, both the NP
episode and the RN episode, and then
pharmacists as drug therapy detectives.
I loved that rule description.
So I think now I've probably talked about
all of them, cuz they were all great.
Morgan: Yeah, I think you know me too
for all those, I will, Selfishly also
highlight the unicorn episode because we
got to share a bit of the, , weird and
wonderful things that people are doing
to bring new roles into primary care.
And I thought that that
one was great as well.
And then for this episode, right
now, this is just a short outro.
We kind of wanna highlight some
of the themes in the learnings
that emerged from this season.
Sarah: And you know, as we went back
through each episode and we found
so much commonality, I think, across
the episodes in terms of what we were
recommending as action items or takeaways.
Roles are different, but how roles
work in teams is really consistent.
Morgan: Yeah I, agree.
I think sometimes I felt like we're
repeating ourselves a little bit
because it's the foundational parts.
So let's go through some of the themes.
What was the first theme you found, Sarah?
Um,
Sarah: first, and I think this was the one
we probably said the most over the season,
was create opportunities for teams to work
together on how they wanna work together.
This includes considering how spaces
are designed, how team members work
together to care for patients, how teams
negotiate, role overlap and get to know
each other so that they're able to have
those conversations, and really support
shared decision making and planning.
And I think, the important part of
the team working together is that
that includes all team members,
from MOAs to patients, to clinical
staff, to administrative leads,
and you know, really creating
opportunities to pull everyone together.
Morgan: Right, and I think
that's true from my experience,
that's foundational to the team.
And second, and kind of building on that.
Is that as you talk about working as a
team, talking about our unique roles,
our individual scopes of practice
and our interests, and then thinking
about how that might extend the range
of our practice, you utilizing those
unique skills and interests and
thinking about specific areas of scope.
So that could actually change the
way you provide service, but also
the services you provide as a team.
to figure that out.
Obviously the conversations and working
together on how you wanna work together.
Sometimes it's also role shadowing
to actually see how things work.
And we saw a couple of
new roles doing that, like
Priscilla, the genetic counselor,
But I think it works in both
directions if you have time that
those who are established could also
shadow and see how new roles and
the team are actually working so
that you really understand as well.
And I think over time you're gonna
use that to identify different
gaps in the new solutions.
I think that's number two for me.
Sarah: Next, I think, is to
really offer teams, , dedicated
time to build relationships.
And it's kind of like the
first recommendation, creating
opportunities to work together
on how you wanna work together.
But I think that highlighting that
relationship piece is so important.
I.
This is, , your typical
kind of team building.
It really enhances the quality of
teamwork, but also the job satisfaction
and wellbeing of team members, which
we know is so important when we think
about adaptive capacity and resilience.
And particularly right now, , we know
things are very stretched in primary care.
, having a team that is resilient
and has those adaptive supports, is
more able to cope with change and
be ready for sort of the next thing.
And we are in this kind of
primary care transformation
and that's an important piece.
Morgan: And Sarah, I think we really
heard from the people who joined us on the
podcast that by working in a team, they're
still pretty enthused about working.
And Sure.
, we recruited people who volunteered to
be interviewed, so they were keen and I
think the team helped people stay keen.
, the last thing's a little different
for me, and it's the thinking about
situating you and, and the team
you're in within your local context.
Thinking about where you sit and the
population you serve and where you are.
For listeners in BC and across Canada,
this means intentionally creating
opportunities to learn and connect
with local First Nations and making
sure everyone has done personal
learning on cultural safety, humility,
those parts are really important.
Investing resources in roles
to support indigenous patients
also incredibly important.
And then thinking about how to do this
well and intentionally in your practice.
How you can further support the population
and the community that you're in.
Some of this, Sarah, actually goes
into which roles to bring into the
team if you're starting a new team.
But then also how do you within the
existing team serve the population better?
Sarah: I think so much of what
jumps out to me here is the
small changes that you can make
to a clinical space to really
make it more comfortable, more
accessible for the population
, you're gonna be serving, right?
Morgan: Yeah.
Sarah: And then I think, the
last thing again, the best
place to start is just to start.
Morgan: Yes.
Start where you are.
Just like we say with our patients,
meet them where they're at.
It's not about, the last step.
It's about the first step.
It's the same for us in teams.
Start where you are.
Sarah: So if you're just starting out,
I think, taking a small step towards
team-based care by hiring a single
role or doing a few shifts with a
strong primary care team in your area.
So, To get that experience, having a
conversation with the people you're
currently working with about working
in a slightly different way . Or, you
know, you can try using the new team
effectiveness tool that we've now put up
on team based care bc.ca and that'll give
you a sense of how your team is working
from your perspective, and highlight some
potential areas to start new learning in.
Morgan: There's a lot of material
on the website, from the TBC
Advisory Committee and from Health
Quality bc, and it's available to
anybody who wants to have a look.
I think it's a great spot to learn
and I come back to what you suggested.
Just talk about how you wanna work
together differently with your existing
team as a great place to start.
So Sarah, now , let's look ahead to
season six before we wrap up Season five.
Now season six is still in development,
but we're thinking about looking at
models of primary care as the focus.
We just did roles, but now we're gonna
shift more to the clinic model and we
wanna highlight some of the differences
between all the different acronyms.
urgent in primary care centers,
community health centers.
First Nations primary care clinics,
patient medical homes, and then larger
systems like primary care networks.
So all these are different kinds of teams,
and we want to maybe look at them and see
what the differences are between them.
Sarah: And Morgan, I'm so excited
about, potentially sharing some
of the stories from these clinics.
I'm imagining popping into some
team-based care clinics to record
in person parts of the next
season.
I've always wanted to do these.
Deep dives into clinic
settings the ethnographer in
Me is very excited about this.
Morgan: I think this is an
anthropologist dream, right?
Sarah: Totally.
Podcasts and ethnography together at last.
Morgan: So for us right now, we're
gonna start doing that deep dive, and
that means taking a bit of a break from
publishing episodes over the summer.
And we look forward to
season six this fall.
Sarah: in the meantime, if you
have any ideas for us to explore
on the podcast or if you're part of
a team that you would love to see,
Highlighted in this next season.
Please reach out and let us know.
If you think the ISU might be a good
collaborator for an idea, a question,
or project in the primary care space,
reach out to isu family med.ubc.ca.
Morgan: The ISU is always looking for
collaborations, and if we aren't the right
place for support, then we'll help try
to figure out where's a good place to go?
Thanks again for everyone who
listens and see you in season six.