The CARE Course

The Comprehensive Approaches to Rural Emergencies (CARE) Course is an itinerant two-day educational program for rural physicians, nurses and paramedics. Developed and taught by rural providers in participants’ own facilities, The CARE Course provides fast-paced, up-to-date, and rurally-relevant education on rural emergency medicine, including medical, trauma and obstetric emergency management. Participants gain skills and confidence for working in a rural Emergency Department.

Achievements & Impact

Developed COVID-safe teaching protocols

Delivered seven The CARE courses in rural BC

Provided four CARe-IBOU courses in rural BC focused on airway education

Developed emergency care learning videos with PRA-BC

Looking ahead

The CARE Course Overiew

Despite the challenges of the COVID–19 pandemic on in-person learning, The CARE Course instructors were able to safely deliver in-person skill station and scenario-based learning to small groups of healthcare providers over the past year by incorporating BC Health guidelines and the use of masks, face shields, and microphones.

In September 2020, The CARE Course travelled to Gabriola Island for a small, COVID-safe interprofessional course. Later, The CARE-R Course (for family practice residents) was delivered six times in December 2020 and February 2021 to 10 participants each time, with approval from the Dean of Medicine in collaboration with the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia (BC). Course participants remarked that they appreciated the “superb tricks of the trade and pearls” offered by the course, as well as the “passionate teachers and rural enthusiasts”.

In addition, a small, itinerant one-day airway education experience, playfully called “CARe-IBOU”, visited the communities of 100 Mile House, Chase, Barriere, and Princeton in a self-contained single road trip in October 2020. More of these one-day events are planned for Spring 2021.

The CARE Course also assisted Practice Ready Assessment BC (PRA-BC) in creating emergency care learning videos, which form the basis of discussion for PRA candidates during their virtual orientation sessions. An important aspect of this work is that PRA candidates have the opportunity to interact video creators, enabling them to ask questions and feel connected to the rural care providers.

It is hoped and anticipated that it will be safer to travel to small communities in BC in 2021 and The CARE Course can resume its pre-pandemic schedule of course offerings in the Fall.

How have we shown or built resilience in BC during a challenging year?

“The CARE Course has enjoyed resilience through the pandemic. This is rooted more in the history and work done over many years to build a strong faculty with deep commitment to the goals of the program and rural support. The program has been able to continue through the pandemic, albeit with fewer and varied offerings, using smaller faculty numbers in COVID-safe ways, while not having the wider faculty feel disconnected … Continuing to deliver our courses in person—taking those risks during the pandemic—shows rural providers that we’re all in this together. This, in turn, helps build resilience in them.”

Drs. Jel Coward and Rebecca Lindley
Medical Leads, The CARE Course, RCCbc

Team Members: Charlene Carver, Elisa Chow