Staff Spotlight

NOVEMBER, 2023

Mrs. Michelle Seymour, Senior Advisor Labour Relations and Member Services for RDBC

Hey Residents! This month we interviewed one of our Senior Labour Relations Advisor, Mrs. Michelle Seymour. We chatted about how the organization have changed since her first day, advice for new residents and her favourite activity to do outside of work.

Can you please give our residents some insight into your role here at RDBC? You hold the distinction of being our longest-standing member, with over 10 years of dedication to the organization.

My current role is Senior Advisor Labour Relations and Member Services. At work we all have an animal that reflects us in our role, or who we are as a person. Mine is the raccoon because I am always plotting in the background on the next move to make progress for residents. My role has evolved to be mostly strategic, preparing for and executing negotiations, essential services and occupational health and safety, but on a day to day you will find me supporting individual residents with issues relating to the Collective Agreement or training progress.

Take us back to the beginning of your journey with RDBC. We’re eager to hear about your early days with the company.

I started with the organization while in undergrad through the UBC Co-op program. While in the program you take semesters off from course work to gain work experience through paid roles in your industry.

At the time the organization was located next to the Post Office and my interview was the morning after the Stanley Cup riot. I was so distracted by the chaos of getting there, I left sure I didn’t get the job, and I’ve been here ever since.

Could you share a fascinating tidbit about RDBC’s history and its evolution over the years?

The organization has gone through two name changes; PARI-BC was the original name for the Professional Association of Residents and Interns of BC, we dropped the I in the 90s when that pathway went away. In 2015 we started the name change trend to Resident Doctors of BC, many other provinces followed and even the national organization.

The recent pay increases are the largest in my time with the organization, when I started, we went through three rounds of negotiations back-to-back where the employer would not consider any raise. As a result of this we had to get creative to find ways to address resident concerns. One of the core areas was call compensation; during this period all residents were paid $400 per month regardless of the amount of call they did. We created the per call system to increase equity for residents and again many other provinces followed our lead.

With your extensive interaction with numerous residents over the years, what advice would you offer to our new residents? Your insights from your interactions can serve as valuable guidance for those just beginning their journey with us.

Residency is hard, I have seen over 10 cohorts of family medicine complete their training and while we have made improvements in residency training in that time, it is still a challenging endeavour. There are plenty of platitudes about training, like you get out what you put into it, or pacing yourself “it’s a marathon not a sprint” that are fitting. I think the best advice I can give is you will be challenged, and you will fail at least once at something so call RDBC before it gets bigger than it needs to be.

What do you like to do when you are not working for RDBC?

When I am not corralling my two kids to clean their rooms or chauffeuring them to their activities, we like to go camping. I am also a forever student, currently I am pursuing a new OHS designation. I also have continued my pandemic hobby of cross stitch, which I am terrible at and have produced exactly one picture.

If you have any questions about the Collective Agreement, Labour Relations or OHS, please reach out to michelle@residentdoctorsbc.ca