External Review of Guidelines
BC health care professionals and relevant stakeholders are invited to participate as external reviewers for the draft version of BC Guidelines. Peer review is a critical component of the guideline development process. New and existing guidelines that have undergone substantive changes are subject to external review to make sure they are clearly written, practical and free of errors.
Guidelines Currently in External Review:
We depend on BC health care professionals to review our draft guidelines. Our external review involves 1) regular mail sent to a random sample of BC physicians and relevant specialists, and 2) emails to a group of key partners in areas such as pharmacy, laboratory procedures, health authorities, public health, and professional colleges and associations. All feedback received is reviewed by the GPAC guideline working group. For more information on our external review process, please see the GPAC Handbook.
This guideline provides recommendations for the diagnosis and management of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in adults aged ≥ 19 years with hemodynamic stability. It includes lower limb deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) diagnosis in the outpatient setting and management of acute VTE.
Guideline available here.
Questionnaire available at: https://surveymoh.health.gov.bc.ca/public/survey/gpac-venous-thromboembolism-external-review
Tobacco Use Disorder (Closes January 5, 2024)
This guideline provides evidence-based recommendations for primary care practitioners on management of TUD. When the term ‘tobacco’ is used in this guideline, it refers to commercial, smoked tobacco and chew. Vaping is considered in the context of available evidence. The guideline focuses on TUD in patients ages 12 and older. Although the available evidence is derived from adult populations, it is the consensus of the working group that the recommendations may be applied to youth.
Guideline available here, associated documents available here.
Questionnaire available at: https://surveymoh.health.gov.bc.ca/public/survey/external-review-questionnaire-tobacco-use-disorder
Concussion / Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) (Closes January 5, 2024)
This guideline provides recommendations for the primary care assessment, diagnosis, and management of concussion for patients of all ages. A concussion is a type of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) that does not have neuroimaging evidence of structural brain lesions. This guideline can be used for patients with mTBI and positive neuroimaging but is not appropriate for use with moderate or severe brain injuries.
Guideline available here.
Questionnaire available at: https://surveymoh.health.gov.bc.ca/public/survey/bc-guidelines-external-review-questionnaire-draft-concussion-mtbi-guideline
Earning Credit for Continuing Professional Development
Physicians who act as external reviewers for BC Guidelines may be eligible to receive credit towards continuing professional development or continuing medical education. For more information, see Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Credits.
Earning Mainpro+ credits and Maintenance of Certification Credits
Peer reviewers for BC Guidelines are eligible for continuing professional development credit: family physicians may self-claim Mainpro+ credits with the College of Family Physicians of Canada; and specialist physicians may self-claim Maintenance of Certification credits with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
