Estevan is becoming a perennial stop on the Saskatchewan Medical Association’s Roadmap Tour.
The tour, which brings medical students and family medicine residents to different locations around the province, 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. Participants not only interact with local physicians and view the local hospital, but they get to see the community.
Estevan hosted more than 40 possible future physicians Oct. 25 for the local tour stop, the third time since March 2017 that Estevan has been on the tour.
Dr. Stephanie Nyberg, a Roadmap physician mentor, has been accompanying the students. A rural family physician from Melfort, she said the SMA likes coming back to Estevan because it has been a very inviting community.
“The staff members are really engaged and wanting to help interest medical students and recruit students to work rurally,” said Nyberg. “Estevan also seems like a great place for full-scope family practice and rural family practice at that, so it’s obviously a good place for medical students to come and learn about what rural family medicine is all about.”
The Roadmap Tour allows students to get out of the city, hang out with their fellow medical students and build friendships with potential co-workers and employers. For those who aren’t from Saskatchewan, they get to see this part of the province for the first time.
Nyberg believes her experiences make her an ideal candidate to be involved with the tour, because she is well-versed in the benefits of practising in a rural centre.
Participants on the Estevan tour stop attended a question and answer panel session with several local medical doctors as well as Brianna Hutchinson, who is a third-year medical student at the University of Regina and one of the longitudinal integrated clerkship students for Estevan this year. They also participated in physician-led education sessions throughout the hospital, and went on a discovery tour scavenger hunt around the city.
And they attended Saturday night’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, is currently interning at the Regina General Hospital. She came away very impressed with what she saw from the community; it was the first time she had ever spent considerable time in Estevan.
“It’s a very friendly community,” she told Lifestyles. “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 they can provide, like the CT scanner.
“They can give patients from Estevan and the catchment area the best care that they can here,” she said.
Froehlich was very interested to hear stories from the physicians and Hutchinson about what they do every day, how they work together as a team, and how they work with others to provide the best care possible.
As for the tour, intubation of a simulated patient was of particular interest. Nyberg said it’s always very popular with its hands-on element.
“Dr. (Khalid) Sheikh was also doing a session on how he does scopes here and what they might look like and why they’re indicated,” said Froelich.
Froehlich said the Roadmap Tour is optional for students to attend, but they’re highly encouraged and a popular option with students.
“We do so much learning in the classroom and in the bigger city centre hospitals, and in our textbooks, so getting to come and have an experience like this really helps put everything into perspective regarding what we’re doing and why. I think about the hours that I spent in my textbook last week and then coming here this weekend gives me this new sense of excitement and makes me feel like all of those other hours of studying are worth something.”
Rural medicine is also of interest to her because of the community aspect of it. Being a physician allows her to be part of a community, and play an important role in someone’s life.
“Physicians are really privileged to be able to have that role,” said Froelich. “You get to celebrate with people, and some of the memories that they’ll forever cherish, and you get to cry with them and hold their hands in more vulnerable times.”
