The Vancouver Division of Family Practice is all about bringing together family doctors from across the City of Vancouver to leverage their collective wisdom and experience to improve the way our health care system works in Vancouver.
The Vancouver Division has many facets of work:
Tools and services that support you as an individual family doctor
To become a member of the Vancouver Division you must:
Either be a resident, actively practicing family physician, or a retired physician who practiced in Vancouver
Practice 51% of the time in the City of Vancouver
Membership is Free!
To apply to become a member, please complete this provincial online form to join one of BC’s 35 Divisions of Family Practice. Select Vancouver as your practice community in the application to join the Vancouver Division of Family Practice. Our administrative team will follow-up with an additional intake form, gathering specific information for Vancouver.
As a member of the Vancouver Division, you gain access to a series of benefits listed below.
Membership Benefits
Access to free UpToDate subscription, which is the go-to resource for members to help make appropriate care decisions. UpToDate delivers evidence-based clinical decision support that is clear, actionable, and rich with real-world insights. * (Note: Resident members receive free UpToDate access via the Provincial office)
Access to the Pathways system, which provides members quick access to current and accurate referral information. This includes wait times and areas of expertise of specialists and specialty clinics. It also provides access to hundreds of patient and physician resources, as well community service and allied health information that is categorized and searchable.
Members have free access to telephone interpreters from PHSA’s Provincial Language Services (PLS). PLS provides interpreting services to any BC primary health care provider and can be accessed over the phone within minutes. Check out the list of languages offered through PLS.
The Division has developed a successful approach to locum matching that focuses on building relationships to ensure compatible matches. Opportunities are posted on Work in Vancouver and members can connect with our talented Recruitment and Retention team to find out more.
Resources to support managing your practice, with staff available to help guide you to the right information on topics such as information on billing, clinic communication tools and resources, and virtual health support.
If you are looking to grow your practice and panel, the Division has dedicated programs to explore adding patients in a controlled and intentional manner.
The Division’s Long-term Care Initiative has a strong infrastructure of programs and supports to help interested family doctors add a long-term care panel to their practice.
Free education and training events on a variety of topics, many of which are continuing medical education (CME) accredited.
Over the years, the Division undertakes many initiatives to support full-spectrum primary care. Examples include bringing the Mind Space to Vancouver and the ongoing development of Primary Care Networks.
The Division’s Recruitment and Retention Team also provides several Retirement Supports to help you plan for your transition to retirement.
Members receive our bi-weekly Fast Facts eNewsletter which curates all the relevant information you might need.
Physician wellness is a priority. Our regularly held “Healthy Minds, Healthy Distractions” series fosters a culture of compassion by offering members a time to come together for creative and unique experiences. They are meant to be an intentional distraction from the increasing demands of family practice.
Members can join a variety of Communities of Practices (CoPs) that are both established and emerging. These consist of colleagues who have similar interests, focused practices, or geographical practice locations. Established CoPs include members who provide maternity care and FPs who have or wish to include a long-term care panel in their practice.
The Division often collaborates on events and opportunities to strengthen relationships with specialists in Vancouver.
Membership Involvement
The Vancouver Division is only as strong as the engagement of its family physician members. When passionate members work alongside Division staff, meaningful changes, big and small, happen.
Much of our work happens in standing committees that focus on key areas of care, patient populations, Vancouver neighborhoods, and strategic priorities of the organization. Committees meet regularly, with meeting frequency varying by committee, and provide input on a range of initiatives and projects throughout the year.
In addition to committee and Board roles, there are flexible ways to contribute your passion, expertise, and skills through shorter-term opportunities with the Division.
Examples include:
Joining a project steering committee
Contributing your writing or editing talents from an FP perspective
Sharing your perspective in focus groups or interviews
Providing feedback on a new resource, pathway, tool, or initiative in development
Sharing your expertise with peers as an FP with a focused practice or specialization
Offering informal mentorship
Bringing forward ideas for how you would like to contribute (please, let us know!)
The Division keeps an active list of members who are interested in shorter-term, accessible opportunities and will contact members when opportunities arise.
When you take part in the opportunities to engage in the work of the Division (e.g. serving on a committee, providing feedback to Division staff on projects and initiatives) members are recognized through remuneration for your time.
As a member of the Division, you are contributing to a greater impact through the collective voice of the organization to collaborate, influence, and impact change throughout the primary health care system.
This Code of Conduct sets out the minimum standard of conduct required of all Members of the Division (General and Associate) when participating in any events, meetings or other activities sponsored by the Division. This Code addresses the main relevant areas but is not designed to be exhaustive.
Members shall deal with each other, and with Partners and staff of the Division, openly, honestly, truthfully and in good faith and shall always observe proper decorum.
Members’ interactions shall be courteous, respectful, and free of animosity.
Members shall engage in respectful communication, honouring opinions, and focusing on issues not personalities.
An important function of the Membership is to nominate and vote for your Board of Directors and participate in the Division’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). The 2026 Elections & Annual General Meeting will be held on October 15, 2026.
