The Central Interior Rural Division of Family Practice (CIRD) launched a Tick Tock Find Us a Doc campaign on Nov.16 to recruit physicians, engage community members, and improve local access to primary care.
CIRD project manager Jill Zimonick say this innovative and proactive initiative will run until March 2017 and participants are eligible to will some great prizes – including a grand prize draw of a vacation package worth approximately $4,000.
The campaign asks residents to provide the CIRD with leads that could result in finding new full-time physicians or locums for the area.
About another $4,000 in cash will be awarded to the participant(s) who put forward a name that leads CIRD to recruit a new doctor for the region, Zimonick says, adding this will be split between them if several individuals succeed in helping find new physicians.
The Tick Tock Find Us a Doc campaign is unique to British Columbia by involving the public in its physician recruitment effort, she explains.
"We are asking the community to get involved and give us names, which is a new idea."
The campaign runs until March 2017. Contest details and "ways to play" can be found at www.facebook.com/ticktockfindusadoc.
There is information online at www.ticktockfindusadoc.com, but the Facebook page is where participants enter the contest, so if you can't access it, send a message to them through this main website and they will assist you, she notes.
Zimonick says other ongoing rewards can be earned by contest participants, such as watching a short video online.
Last week, just "liking" their page on Facebook entered folks in a draw to win a $100 gift card for Boston Pizza, she adds.
The project manager notes all campaign prizes are funded through local individuals and business sponsors.
While CIRD has a Red Carpet Program for recruiting new doctors to the area that highlights the community's businesses, hospital and family supports, it decided to "take this another step" and ask the community to get involved, she explains.
Zimonick says this idea was brought to life for two reasons.
"First, because of the community support that it builds, and second, because those people are likely to send people to us that are going to be good fits for the area."
While CIRD works hard in recruiting physicians from across the province, the country and the rest of the world – people in each Cariboo community know best the features and attractants in their own towns, she notes.
"Our doctor's offices get a lot of calls from people looking for doctors. So we are hoping that people will see this as an opportunity to help find physicians for their community, now and into the future."