For physicians, resident physicians, medical students and their immediate family members.
Jump to Resources: Diversity | Wellness | Development | Issues and Concerns
As part of Alberta Health Services’ (AHS) Provincial Medical Affairs, the Physician Experience team is focused on providing physician leaders with the knowledge, skills and tools to foster wellness, diversity, inclusion, safety and positive interactions between physicians, their colleagues, AHS staff, patients and patient families.
Our work is divided into two streams:
Our mission is to foster a workplace culture that:
In addition, AHS continues to address issues of inequity and discrimination when they arise, working to improve the experience of our physicians and medical leaders.
MD Culture Shift Newsletter
The MD Culture Shift newsletter is an AHS publication created by physicians for physicians through the Physician Diversity, Wellness and Development portfolio. This publication shares insightful and valuable information in the areas of wellness, diversity and leadership development and showcases the great work being done throughout the province supporting a positive shift in the culture of medicine.
Download an issue:
For older issues see MD Culture Shift Newsletter Archives
Diversity and Inclusion
Respectful Workplaces
University of Calgary
Workplace Health and Safety
Infographics
Podcasts
Toolkits and Learning Series
Wellness
Current Medical Leadership Opportunities
To view available AHS Medical Leadership positions, visit Doctor Jobs Alberta, or contact your Zone Medical Director.
Leadership Development
The organizational culture that frontline physicians experience is their local team culture. Local team culture is largely shaped by the local leader, therefore culture shift strategies focused on leaders are among the most effective. Healthy teams require an environment of psychological safety and sense of belonging for all. Our team recognizes the strong links between leadership, physician wellness, equity and diversity and the quality and safety of the patient care.
View current leadership development opportunities or contact the Physician Diversity, Wellness and Development team at mdcultureshift@ahs.ca.
Trauma-Informed Leadership
Improve physician wellness, it is critical that our leaders recognize the sources of workplace trauma for physicians, take steps to reduce preventable harm, and provide a compassionate, supportive response to those impacted. Trauma-informed leadership is a way to equip leaders with the knowledge and skills to understand and mitigate the effects of trauma on their team members.
The Physician Diversity, Wellness & Development team offers Trauma-Informed Leadership Training (TILT) to medical leaders. For more information, please email MDCultureShift@ahs.ca.
Provincial Learning Opportunities
Questions: For information about available resources for medical leaders, please contact MDCultureShift@ahs.ca
The Physician Issues and Concerns team works with and supports medical leaders in addressing workplace conflicts involving AHS physicians, such as clinical and/or interpersonal matters (including but not limited to disrespect, harassment, violence, bullying as defined by AHS’s Respectful Workplace policy).
Effective management of workplace concerns and issues in a fair, transparent, and reasonable manner aligns with AHS’s values, contributes to physician wellness, supports diversity, inclusion and anti-racism objectives, and fosters positive culture and psychological safety.
Our work is guided by:
How are issues and concerns addressed?
In considering a complaint or conflict, medical leaders may use various mechanisms:
What is the Bilateral Complaints Resolution Process
The Bilateral Complaints Resolution Process refers to a process used when an issue or concern is raised by a physician against an AHS staff member or by an AHS staff member against a physician.
The term “bilateral” acknowledges that different guidance documents apply to different types of workers. With partnership between Medical Affairs, Human Resources and Medical Leadership, the processes ensure that Type III (Worker to Worker) issues as defined in AHS’s Respectful Workplace Policy are addressed in fair and consistent ways.
The Bilateral Complaints Resolution Process was developed following extensive consultation with stakeholders in 2021/2022, with the goal of standardizing the intake and review processes for complaints to ensure a people-centric approach when addressing workplace concerns that do not meet the threshold for concerns under Part 6 of the Medical Staff Bylaws.
The full report can be viewed here.
How to Report a Concern
If you have a concern to report, there are a few ways you can do this:
Senior Consultants (Concerns Consultant), Physician Issues and Concerns Management
Our team includes Senior Consultants who work closely with medical leaders to navigate workplace issues and concerns. In their role, they collaborate with other teams including AHS Legal, Privacy, Human Resources, Employee Relations, Protective Services and Clinical Operations.
Concerns Consultants are available to medical leaders to discuss immediate and ongoing concerns.
Questions?
