More than 40 potential future physicians have been in the Estevan area Saturday, thanks to a visit from the Saskatchewan Medical Association’s (SMA) Roadmap Tour.
The program, for medical students and family medicine residents, is designed to showcase rural and regional centres in Saskatchewan with the goal of increasing the number of locally trained physicians working in these communities.
Each year, the SMA, along with local health officials, hold one-day tours of host communities. Students and residents spend time with physicians and community members learning about work and life in that town or city.
This is the third time Estevan has hosted the Roadmap Tour since March 2017.
Participants on the tour attended a question and answer panel session with several local medical doctors, participated in physician-led education sessions throughout the hospital, and went on a discovery tour scavenger hunt.
They will also attend tonight’s hockey game between the Estevan Bruins and the Weyburn Red Wings at Affinity Place.
Jessica Froehlich, a second year medical student who hails from Moose Jaw, came away very impressed with what she saw from the community.
“It’s a very friendly community,” she told the Mercury. “I definitely get a sense that everyone here considers everyone else family, and that there’s a lot of community support for one another.”
As for the hospital, she said it was nice to get a tour of the facility and to see the pride in the services like the CT scanner.
“They can give patients from Estevan and the catchment area the best care that they can here,” she said.
Dr. Stephanie Nyberg, a Roadmap physician mentor, has been accompanying the students. A rural family physician from Melfort, she provides insights into the purpose of the Roadmap Tour and her experiences practising in rural Saskatchewan.
The next edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
