Physician Health
The Physician Health Program is a confidential and collaborative approach to ensuring your health condition does not impact patient safety. Each physician’s health situation is unique and is approached respectfully, sensitively, and with the utmost confidentiality.
Program Objectives
Physician health is a priority for the College as we are tasked to ensure patients are receiving competent medical care.
To the extent the physician’s health permits, our focus is to ensure the physician is supported to maintain a safe practice. In some instances, this may include ongoing physician monitoring, changing scope of practice, a health assessment or a leave of absence from practice.
What To Expect
We may become aware of a physician’s health condition when:
We connect with you only if we require additional information about your health condition or work environment so as to evaluate the impact of your condition on your ability to practice.
Our goal is to ensure the supports you need are in place to balance your health and clinical responsibilities.
The College does not provide direct treatment but connects physicians to available resources.
Duty to Report
When a physician has reasonable grounds to believe that another physician’s health condition may impact that physician’s ability to practice safely, there is a professional obligation to report this concern to the College. This obligation arises whether the physician in question is a patient or a colleague.
Reporting to the College is not the same as filing a complaint.
A physician’s reporting obligations are provided in the College’s:
Professional Standards and Guidelines Regarding Duty to Report Health Professionals
Physicians should contact the Canadian Medical Protective Association for advice when considering their reporting obligations in any specific circumstances.