Project Lead: Dr. Tamara Leung

The project was initially proposed to support family physicians who were willing and interested to provide assistance at surgery for non-elective (emergency) surgeries and thus bolster the roster of on-call surgical assistants who provide 24/7/365 coverage at emergency surgery, when needed. By the nature of non-elective surgeries, it was important that the assistants have reasonable skills to assist the perioperative team to provide quality patient care in a number of surgical disciplines, specifically general surgery, orthopedic trauma surgery, gynecologic surgery and C-sections. This project provided a structure to give interested physicians an orientation to the physical space of the Richmond Hospital Operating Room, foster a desired operating room culture towards the entire team and opportunities to gain experience in the diverse surgical disciplines that utilize the services of the on-call assistant with support from an experienced surgical assistant. Equally important, the project provided opportunities for the surgeons to become familiar with the new physicians and provide feedback to enhance the skills of the trainee. The steps that arose during the administration of this project also helped Medical Administration develop a process to respond to inquiries from physicians who expressed interest to assist in surgery.

By the project completion, four on-call surgical assistants for emergency surgery were added to the roster. Three are also providing surgical assistance for scheduled and elective surgery, thus the project has bolstered this pool of physicians as well.