A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY
We have chosen in this plan to utilize additive language, consistent with the findings of the careful review conducted under the auspices of Beyond the Binary Canada. Co-led by Dr. Lori Brotto, a professor in our department, the goal of this work is to provide nationally relevant, community informed guidance that enables researchers to conduct gender inclusive health research for cisgender women and trans, non-binary, Two-Spirit, gender non-conforming, gender creative, and additional gender divergent identities. Acknowledging that the thinking and experience will continue to evolve, the department and strategic plan adopt, for now, the term “women and gender diverse individuals” to encompass these populations.
Our Purpose, Values and Aspirational Goals
We are guided by the vision of the UBC Faculty of Medicine – transforming health for everyone – and by its mission of health through knowledge and innovation1. We strive in the department to do our part in fulfilling these commitments by:
Advancing health and compassionate care
through education and research in obstetrics and gynecology
This purpose statement spotlights the role of our profession in transforming health – for all – through our efforts to advance the health of women and gender diverse individuals, and it recognizes that our work as a university department, while focused on training and scholarship, is aimed ultimately at improving patient outcomes and experience, influencing practice and policy, and informing public understanding.
Our values are also grounded in UBC2 and faculty values, but five are integral in Obstetrics & Gynecology:
Excellence ▪ Equity ▪ Inclusion ▪ Respect ▪ Collaboration
These principles underpin our decision making and action, as individuals and collectively as a department.
Our Priorities
We have agreed on clear priorities to guide our efforts in advancing these goals. There is scope – and need – for improvement in each, with much of this work already underway or at least contemplated. This is by design; we are aiming through the plan more to channel, reinforce, and connect activity than to imagine and impose multiple new demands on an already overextended team.
Our Priorities at a Glance
Moreover, while organized by the four core areas of the UBC and Medicine plans, all priorities are intersectional, with our ongoing success dependent on progressing them in parallel.
EDUCATION
Priorities in this area span the spectrum from undergraduate to continuing education, with our focus on steadily building provincial capacity to ensure consistently high-quality care in obstetrics and gynecology. There are crucial connections with our research activities, notably through graduate education.
Updates in undergraduate medical education to strengthen student knowledge and interest in women’s health in the domain of obstetrics and gynecology. We will review and recommend changes in curriculum, pedagogy, and delivery models in the medical doctor (MD) program to better develop general obstetric and gynecologic competencies amongst students, particularly those destined for front-line roles in the health care system, but also to foster excitement around the career possibilities in our field.
Improved and coordinated preceptor engagement. We will amplify efforts to identify, incentivize, and support preceptors to ensure quality clinical experience for all trainees in obstetrics and gynecology, collaborating in time with the new medical school at Simon Fraser University so we can together ensure a seamless transition to an expanded cadre of medical professionals in the province.
Distributed expansion of residency and fellowship programs. Given data supporting serious under resourcing in obstetrics and gynecology in BC and Canada, we will advocate for and operationalize growth in post-graduate programs and selective expansion in sub-speciality training in line with care needs, including through our unique clinical fellowships. Our work will span rural and remote areas, recruitment from Indigenous communities, and integration of culturally safe and trauma-informed practice.
More systematic continuing medical and surgical education to bolster competence and confidence in obstetrics and gynecology amongst front-line providers – from nurses to midwives to emergency room physicians to family practitioners, improving uptake and outcomes through awareness building, more accessible training modules, and consistent excellence in teaching. This will also include activities to enhance surgical skills and other focused areas of continuous improvement in our profession.
RESEARCH
We will prioritize activities that support researchers across the department in their work and that strengthen and sustain our research enterprise overall.
Activation of synergies with research institutes and centres. Harnessing the networks of colleagues within and across these various entities, we will better align governance, personnel, and funding to create a more coherent and efficient provincial research enterprise. We will also put in place mechanisms to connect academic and clinical faculty more effectively within the department.
Strengthened research infrastructure. We will work with UBC, health authorities and government, and engaged donors to secure investment in wet lab space, statistical support, and clinical trials. All of these are crucial to ensuring continuing excellence in knowledge development and translation and to attracting and retaining top graduate students and research talent.
Needs-tailored support for researchers. We will align our efforts to reinforce knowledge generation in obstetrics and gynecology, from enhanced mentorship of early career and clinician researchers to more systematic guidance for faculty in knowledge mobilization to facilitation of grant applications to creation of structures that enable interdisciplinary collaborations and strategic research partnerships beyond UBC.
Research pipeline building. Just as we must attract compassionate, committed trainees and new faculty to sustain excellence in care, so too must we attract those with strengths in research to sustain excellence in scholarship. To build interest and skills, we will engage learners in research at all stages in their education journeys, also enhancing graduate education through WACH and other program development.
ORGANIZATION
The priorities combine internally and externally focused efforts that seek to strengthen the financial sustainability of the department and to honour and support those who work and learn in our profession.
Advocacy for resource allocation. One of our most important responsibilities as a department, we will campaign for structural changes in funding to advance our purpose. Priorities include new residency positions, recruitment and retention of scientists and academic faculty to ensure capacity and succession, and enhanced space and facilities to help attract and retain top talent.
Workforce planning, mentorship, and leadership training. With sustained attention to strategic recruitment and leadership capacity, we will formalize people functions that support the wellbeing and development of faculty and staff and help ensure the ongoing evolution of the department. We will approach all this work through the lenses of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), striving always to cultivate a strong sense of community – notably among Indigenous professionals.
Strategic promotion of the department. Through concerted focus and new models of communications and engagement, we will elevate the awareness and profile of our work, firmly establishing our colleagues as experts, educators, and thought partners in practice and policy. These activities will in turn mobilize a platform for improved public understanding and for fundraising, in partnership with relevant foundations.
Alignment of department administrative practices. We will continue our efforts to better support educational programming and resident scheduling. Moreover, we will review and revise as needed our divisional structures and budget model to ensure they enable our academic priorities while protecting cross-department efficiencies. A targeted website update will help improve critical information flows.
PARTNERSHIPS
Embracing our endeavours across the province and around the world, we will work actively with others to establish a new paradigm in the health of women and gender diverse individuals.
Strategic collaborations to champion the health of women and gender diverse individuals. We will strive alongside health authorities, the Ministry of Health, and other partners within and beyond BC to advance gender equity in practice, including through public awareness campaigns. A regional and provincial health human resources (HHR) plan is a core priority to address staffing gaps and create structural connections between clinicians providing education and care in obstetrics and gynecology.
Strengthened centres of excellence. Strategy is about choice, and we will seek through this plan to articulate, enhance, and promote key areas of academic excellence at the convergence of our expertise and the needs of British Columbians. Not only will these centres help attract talent and funding, but they will also help elevate and align standards of care at critical pain points for patients.
Regional hubs and communities of practice. In conjunction with these centres, we will designate and continue to develop regional hubs that integrate research, education, and care in key sub-specialities –extending and deepening capacity across the province. We will also expand clinical trials in these locations to foster community engagement and drive research-informed innovations through application.
Improved care for Indigenous and other underserved populations. Guided by knowledgeable colleagues, we will collaborate with communities across BC to progress systemic changes in practice through education and research. We will also sustain our work to improve global health through clinical missions that simultaneously build local capacity, such as our partnership with the University of Rwanda.
Implementation
The strategic plan will only succeed through excellence and resolve in implementation. We will identify and track annual actions, accountabilities, and deliverables that advance the plan through the next five years. We will embed the plan and priorities in our decision making and resource allocation processes. And we will use the plan as a lens through which we engage with partners, learn from our missteps, and celebrate our successes as we proudly tell our story as the UBC Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
As the COVID-19 pandemic made profoundly clear, we will need to remain agile and pivot as circumstances change. But even then, and arguably especially then, the strategic plan will serve as a vital compass to guide our individual and collective efforts. We look forward to working together to advance health and compassionate care through education and research in obstetrics and gynecology.
We have champions who will direct the implementation plans in each of our key areas.
Education
Dr. Jag Ubhi, Associate Head Education
Research
Drs. Lori Brotto and Gillian Hanley, Associate Co-Heads Research
Organisation
Andi Martin, Administrative Director
Partnerships
Dr. Deborah Money, Department Head & Dr. Robin Johnson, OBGYN Indigenous Advisor
Feedback
Thank you for taking the time to review the highlights of our plan. We are grateful for any feedback you would like to share.