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Physician Health & Wellness Community of Practice Project

Supporting Physician Well-Being Regionally 

Doctors Manitoba works in close collaboration with regional partners to improve physician health and wellness at the organizational and system level.

Physician well-being is a shared responsibility and evidence suggests targeting the organizational level will yield the most success.

From late 2019 to early 2023, with the generous support of Scotiabank, CMA, and MD Financial Management, Doctors Manitoba established and coordinated community of practice pilots with physicians, physician champions, and senior leaders in Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority (IERHA), Northern Health Region (NHR), and Prairie Mountain Health (PMH).

In each region, the groups worked together to identify causes and solutions to burnout using local physician experiences and evidence from the literature. Using collaborative processes, the groups then assessed and prioritized potential solutions to develop achievable and locally meaningful action plans.

Each of the three regions now has a Physician Health & Wellness Action Plan they are in the process of implementing. To ensure implementation continues to be collaborative and guided by local physician voices, each region has agreed to integrate a Physician Health and Wellness Committee into their existing infrastructure.

Based on positive project evaluation results for this model, as well as lessons learned, Doctors Manitoba continues to support the three current regions and has expanded the model to Southern Health – Santé Sud (SH-SS). This model will continue to expand to other areas where possible.

For more information on action plan implementation, opportunities to get involved, or the model, contact Jennifer MacDonald, Physician Health Program and Policy Specialist, at jmacdonald@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca. Doctors Manitoba thanks the following funders for making the original work possible.

Scotiabank, MD Financial Management and the Canadian Medical Association proudly support the Physician Health & Wellness Community of Practice Project, one of several initiatives that comprise our 10year, $115 million commitment to supporting the medical profession and advancing health in Canada.

The Community of Practice Model

The physician health work with regions uses an adapted Community of Practice model. The main adaptation is the development and implementation of achievable action plans. The initial pilot project also included a robust process and outcome evaluation. 

Domain: The area of shared inquiry is physician health and wellness and the systemic and organizational factors that support or impede it. 

Community Members: Physicians (including a Physician Champion), senior health authority leaders (e.g., CMO, CEO), other stakeholders such as hospital or clinic administrators, Doctors Manitoba staff, and others that the community members feel are integral to success of the pilot. 

Practice: Community needs assessment and gap analysis, education and training, development and prioritization of achievable action plans, resources identified and secured, additional stakeholders brought in if needed. Implementation of community specific initiatives. 

Continuous Improvement: Includes reflection on processes (e.g., engagement approaches and results) and formal outcome measures. 

Adapted from: Introduction to communities of practice: A brief overview of the concept and its uses (Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner,)

Physician Champion Bios
SH-SS Physician Health and Wellness Committee

New Physician Champion Bio — Coming Soon

Dr. Idowu Afinowi, Chair, Physician Health and Wellness Committee, NHR

Dr. Idowu Afinowi is a psychiatrist, clinical educator at the University of Manitoba, and Chair of the Physician Health and Wellness Committee for Manitoba’s Northern Health Region.

He earned his medical degree from Lagos State University College of Medicine, Nigeria, in 2011 and is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians in Psychiatry. With more than a decade of progressive clinical experience, Dr. Afinowi has practised in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and Canada across diverse areas of psychiatry. He currently serves communities throughout Manitoba’s Northern Health Region, where he is committed to providing compassionate, respectful, and person-centred mental healthcare.

A passionate advocate for physician health and well-being, Dr. Afinowi is particularly interested in initiatives that support physicians, reduce workplace burdens, and improve clinical practice through the thoughtful application of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

Dr. Afinowi is married with three children. Outside medicine, he enjoys playing chess, singing, playing and watching soccer, fishing, boxing, karate, and salsa dancing.

Dr. Stacey Kitz, Chair, Physician Health and Wellness Committee, PMH

Dr. Stacey Kitz, MD, CCFP(EM) FCFP studied at the University of Manitoba (2005), and specialized in Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine at Queen’s (2008). She has worked in the Emergency Department at Brandon Regional Health Centre since 2008. She is part of the CPD committee for CAEP as well as the rural and remote section at the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians.Becoming the chair for the Physician Health and Wellness Committee in Prairie Mountain Health was important to Dr. Kitz as she was part of the community of practice since its inception as a pilot project, witnessing first hand how it brought together a community of like-minded physicians looking to improve the health and wellness of their colleagues in PMH. Further, it is a committee that has been able to develop evidence-based action items that can address some of the proverbial pebbles in the shoes of the physicians in the region. She believes in the mission and said she is thrilled to be given the opportunity to chair the group in the implementation phase of the project. Dr. Kitz has a longstanding interest in medical education and was the inaugural site lead for Brandon’s CCFP(EM) program, a position she held for several years before handing it off to a graduate of the program. She has also served as co-chief of the Brandon ER and was the regional ER Covid lead during the pandemic. She loves to travel and be outdoors, and can often be found at the cabin, going for walks and bike rides with her children or planning her next trip. Dr. Kitz is happily married to an amazing husband and together they have a soccer-loving son and twin daughters who love to play music and dance.

IERHA Committee Chair — Position Open

To indicate your interest, please contact Jennifer MacDonald at jmacdonald@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

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