EMNet Peer Support Network

Peer Support is a formal way of supporting clinicians during times of significant stress and vulnerability. This kind of assistance can help physicians deal with the difficult emotions, such as fear, vulnerability, stress and pain that come along with adverse events, difficult cases, negative interactions with peers, personal challenges, and more. 

We are 40 trained Emergency Physicians representing all sites of the McGill Department of Emergency Medicine (MUHC, JGH, SMH, Lakeshore, Gatineau/Hull, Wakefield, Papineau, Pontiac). 

Physicians in need of support have three ways to access the Peer Support Network. 

1) Reach In: contact the Peer Support Network on your own.

2) Reach Out: we will contact you in cases of sentinel events.

3) Refer In: we will contact you if we are made aware of the need, either by a friend or colleague, with your permission.

All three methods will trigger an offer of support from the Peer Support Network, which can be accepted or declined. If accepted, the Peer Support Director (Dr. Sara Ahronheim) will assist in matching you up with an appropriate peer supporter, based on a set of questions. You can choose to be matched up with a peer supporter at your site or at a different site, someone you know vs someone you don’t, and to receive support in the language of your preference (English or French). 

Peer Supporters are not therapists or counselors. The Peer Support Network will provide physicians with a one-time, one-on-one conversation with a peer supporter. This intervention is not meant to be longitudinal, so there will not be an ongoing therapeutic relationship. Should further help be required, the peer supporter will be able to direct you to additional appropriate resources. 

 EMNet Peer Support conversations will be kept confidential. We will not take notes, and there will be no documentation related to the interaction. There is no reporting to the Department, Hospital or the Collège. The EMNet Peer Support relationship is a safe space and exists solely to support our EM physicians in times of need. Peer Supporters are EM physicians like you, so we have likely had similar experiences and can probably relate to what you are going through.  

Shapiro J, Galowitz P. Peer Support for Clinicians: A Programmatic Approach . Acad Med. 2016 Sep; 91(9):1200-4.

Shapiro J., M.D., and McDonald T. B., M.D., J.D. Supporting Clinicians during Covid-19 and Beyond — Learning from Past Failures and Envisioning New Strategies New England Journal of Medicine. N Engl J Med 2020; 383:e142