Around 40 first- and second-year medical students from the University of Manitoba were in Thompson for a weekend in December, where they learned about the unique practices of rural and Northern medicine.
The event was put together by the Burntwood Regional Health Authority (BRHA). Each year, the students visit a different Manitoban health region to get a taste of what it's like to practice medicine outside of major cities.
"I get a kick out of the Northern exposure," said Corey Veldman, one of the students who helped organize the Dec. 17-19 trip to Thompson. "I did a summer up North as well."
"The BRHA was really enthusiastic about having us up this year," noted Matthew Morrissette, a second-year med school student who also helped organize the visit. "We try and rotate, every year we go to a different community."
The opportunity to take a look at medicine outside of Winnipeg doesn't just extend to this one weekend per year, either. Each year, the med students have a "Rural Week", which they spend in another part of the province. "We offered to host the Rural Week in Thompson next year," noted Dr. Hussam Azzam, the BRHA's vice-president of medical services. "It's going to be a huge event." In May 2008, four students spent Rural Week in Thompson.
The weekend focused mostly on hands-on experiences, though not with real patients. BRHA physicians volunteered their time to host lectures and workshops for the students, including a workshops on intubation and suturing, and a tour of Thompson General Hospital.
From the BRHA's perspective, Azzam said that this experience in Thompson, being able to actually see the city and the health facilities available, means that the students might keep the North in mind when they are looking for places to complete their residencies - or ever after medical school when they begin practicing.
"We're promoting our region," said Azzam "A lot of people never come to Thompson. Over the last two and a half years I've been here, whenever I've wanted a visitor - whether it's a university professor or Manitoba Health person or students or residents - when they come here and have a look, they say 'we didn't expect it to be that way. It's much nicer and much better than what we had in our imagination.' These things are extremely important to promote our region - not only our hospital, but the region of Thompson in general."
Just as Azzam predicted, the weekend seemed to change some minds. "I think it's great that you get the rural experience but it's also a medical centre for a lot people, so you have some of the experiences that you wouldn't have in more rural communities," said Teryl Sansom, who added that she was already looking at practicing in a rural area after graduation.
"A lot of people are surprised at the services that are offered in the hospital," noted Morrissette. "Some people weren't sure how big Thompson was before we came. It's good that they're able to see the community and see that there's more to offer than they initially thought."
"It would really depend on where I ended up specializing," said Terry Colbourne, a med student who grew up in Thompson. "If there wasn't a full-time position, I would definitely come up and do part-time work."
All the students who visited Thompson already had an interest in practicing medicine outside Winnipeg, at least. "They choose to be a part of the rural interest group, they don't have to be, so coming up to Thompson and being a part of this means they're interested in rural medicine in one way or another," explained Donelda Parenteau, the BRHA's medical resource co-ordinator, who organized the event from the BRHA's end.
As the students toured Thompson and pondered their futures, a recent announcement by the provincial government might have also been going through their mind. On Dec. 9, Premier Greg Selinger announced that the province would fully cover medical school costs of any student who agreed to work in areas, which are most in need of doctors, which includes many remote communities under the BRHA's umbrella.
"Graduates who accept these grants will be providing care to many families that don't have a family doctor today," said Health Minister Theresa Oswald. "By targeting areas most in need of doctors, we are taking a significant step toward ensuring all Manitobans have access to a family doctor by 2015, regardless of where they live."
