It's been dubbed social media for doctors.

And already, a new online platform called Physician Waffle House is bringing professional connections, resources, recruitment opportunities and perhaps most importantly, fun, to physicians across B.C.

Physician Waffle House is the brainchild of Vernon family doctor Kira McClellan, who serves on the executive and working group of the Vernon Jubilee Hospital (VJH) Physician Society. 

The platform has been live since August 2024 but was officially launched Jan. 30  at the VJH cafeteria where, apropos of the platform's name, waffles were served to all in attendance. 

The platform's playful Waffle House name was the finishing touch that emphasizes that fun is one of the platform's primary goals. 

"We had initially designed a website that was very professional-looking, quite corporate, very organized," McClellan explained at the launch. "About seven days before I was pitching this to my colleagues ... I thought to myself, I can't pitch this corporate website to physicians and ask them to connect and have fun. So we literally did a 180."

McClellan told the story behind the Jonas Brothers' 2023 song Waffle House, explaining the band used to hang out at the Waffle House Diner as they were underage and couldn't go to the bars.

"They would go after their shows and connect and debrief and kind of chill out. So we developed the Physician Waffle House for physicians to do the same."

To kick off the launch event, the Jonas Brothers' song was played and, right on cue, a physician flash mob broke out into a dance.

The site features two-way chat functionality, a recruitment platform with job listings, group forums, a news reel and a physician leadership resource for the 100 or so physician leaders in the local health authority, and other leaders around the province, to make use of. 

The platform is something like Facebook, LinkedIn and WhatsApp Messenger all rolled into one. 

Indeed, McClellan said "Facebook for doctors" is an analogy she's heard as she's been explaining the platform to journalists and health care professionals. 

In creating the site, McClellan was seeking a solution to the problem of unprecedented burnout and attrition among physicians not only in Vernon but across the country. She pointed to studies that have shown that peer support can help reduce burnout, and peer support is a central function of the site. 

Beyond creating a support network for physicians, the platform is a tool that can help alleviate the short staffing levels that are more directly responsible for physician burnout. 

"We have physician shortages right across the board in all departments. There's some departments that are working at less than 50 per cent staffing levels with physicians," McClellan said. 

She explained the few departments that are doing well are the ones that are getting new recruits, because they're a more desirable place to work — no physician particularly wants to go to a department where stress levels are higher because of low staffing levels, and this creates a cycle of departments that are perpetually understaffed. 

McClellan said one way to break that cycle is to do a mass recruitment effort, bringing in a handful of physicians to a department at once, and Physician Waffle House can help accomplish that by consolidating job postings. 

Acknowledging that most physicians will be using the platform at home after work hours, McClellan stressed that Physician Waffle House is meant to be a fun space, not another work space. 

"It definitely has work tools and there are very useful parts to the site, but we don't want people to feel like they're going to work when they look at the site.

The site was piloted in the North Okanagan but physicians from Vancouver Island all the way to Kimberley have since signed up. McClellan said if the demand is there, she'd love to see Physician Waffle House go nationwide. 

The site can be found online at . 

VJH podcast video platform also announced

After Physician Waffle House was launched on Thursday, VJH wasn't done announcing new initiatives. 

Family nurse practitioner Danika Koopmans announced Docs of Vernon, a new podcast video platform that is designed to help the public navigate the health care system.

"It will enable the public to get to know the fabulous physicians who are providing their treatment, and it's also being targeted as a major recruitment tool," said VJH director of facility engagement Sharon Hughes-Geekie. 

Koopmans pitched the idea for Docs of Vernon in December, having already done an online interview series outside of medicine. 

"What I found was these interview series really captured the person we were interviewing, not just from the professional side of who they were, but what's underneath, who they are outside of their role in medicine," she said. 

The podcast series will aim to delve into what Koopmans called "difficult conversations" about concerns the public has about the healthcare system — questions such as why people can't see their primary care provider, why their surgeries have been cancelled or waitlisted, or why emergency room wait times are so long.

"This gives us the chance to use our voice as physicians to say 'this is what's going on,'" she said. 

"And we get to share who we are from an authentic standpoint, our families, our friends, what we love outside of medicine, why we love Vernon."

Koopmans has interviewed pathologists, mental health and addictions specialists, general surgeons and the site director of VJH's residency program. 

The interviews will go live March 1 and carry through the month of March. 

To learn more about Docs of Vernon, .