The longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC) program at St. Joseph’s Hospital was so successful in its first year that it has been expanded, and two aspiring physicians are now learning more about medicine at the hospital.
The LIC program was launched in Estevan in 2018, with Lindsay Richels spending a year learning more about medicine at the hospital. Her time in the Energy City ended in July.
Now the hospital has Brianna Hutchinson and Paige Baldwin learning more about the day-to-day lives of medical doctors. Both are third-year students at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine, and have been in Estevan since Aug. 14.
“I’ve really enjoyed it here,” Baldwin said in an interview with Lifestyles. “The hospital is beautiful and the people are really great to work with. I’ve learned a lot so far, and I’ve only been here for two months.”
Hutchinson described the experience thus far as a “mixed bag of marbles,” with time spent in family medicine, the emergency room, obstetrics and specialists, including an orthopedic surgeon, a nephrologist and a psychiatrist.
Baldwin believes the variety throughout the year is one of the perks of the LIC program.
“We’re always thinking outside of the box, compared to the programs in the bigger cities, where you get six weeks of one topic at the time,” said Baldwin.
Everyone has been really welcoming and open in getting them involved with patient care, Hutchinson said.
“I think they’ve been a huge asset in getting us settled here,” said Hutchinson.
Hutchinson had some familiarity with Estevan before coming to the city. She hails from Rocanville, which, like Estevan, is part of the South East Cornerstone Public School Division, so she would compete in sports tournaments or participate in extracurricular activities at the Estevan Comprehensive School. She also has a couple friends from the city.
Rural medicine is of interest to her.
“Being able to train in a place that is going to be similar to the environment where I want to work in the future is going to be very appealing to me. Secondly, I really like the continuity of care that you see in this model, where you might see a patient in family medicine, and then you might follow up with them in the ER, and then you follow up with them again in family medicine.”
It’s a better model than seeing a patient once and never seeing them again.
“The final thing that drew me here was the ability to practise my skills over the whole year,” said Hutchinson. “In the block setting, you’re focusing specifically on one thing, and you might get really good at it for the two weeks, four weeks or six weeks that you’re doing it, but then you move on to the next thing, and you don’t get that chance to continue to practise at it.”
Baldwin, who is from Brandon, Man., didn’t know as much about Estevan. She came to the city for the Saskatchewan Medical Association’s (SMA) Road Map Tour last September with other College of Medicine students, fell in love with the hospital and wanted to come back.
She later returned for a tour of the hospital and to meet the physicians.
Baldwin is also interested in rural medicine, and is a big supporter of the hands-on nature of the LIC program.
“A lot of the time we’re one on one with doctors, where in the big cities, you’re going to have multiple students per doctor, or the students are with the residents, and the residents are also competing for more hands-on time,” said Baldwin.
Within her first two weeks in Estevan, Baldwin delivered a baby with just her preceptor watching.
The two students praised their preceptors – Dr. Edward Krickan and Dr. Edward Tsoi – for their support since arriving.
Baldwin says she has always been drawn to science, and that’s why she wants a career in medicine. She also enjoys getting to know people.
“I wanted to become a doctor since I was very little, so when I was in Grade 12, I shadowed midwifery and obstetrics, and decided I liked medicine a little bit better. There’s a little more security in the job.”
Hutchinson started to think about a career as a medical doctor when she was in high school. She always took an interest in healthcare, and she found she enjoyed working with kids during her summer job in high school.
“I was looking more into pediatrics at that point,” she said. “I loved my high school science classes, especially biology, when we started first learning about the human body. So I think that’s what started to solidify it.”
She worked in long-term care in university during the summers, and enjoyed the experience, which further influenced her decision.
The two medical students noted that it was a more competitive process to be part of the LIC program in Estevan than the year before. Some people were waitlisted this year. They believe that it’s due to the success that Richels enjoyed while in Estevan a year ago.
Both had the chance to talk to Richels about her experience, and they even did some shadowing of her.
“She’s been a great resource as far as giving advice on what to expect, how to study, so she’s been very helpful,” said Hutchinson.
They plan to promote Estevan and the hospital when the SMA’s Road Map tour comes to Estevan for the third straight year on Oct. 26.
“I hope there are a lot of eager students who are happy and excited to be here and see what Estevan has to offer,” said Hutchinson.
“I already received a message from one of the second years, asking what I thought of the program, and she’s interested in coming, so I encouraged her to come to the road map and we’ll chat then,” Baldwin added.
Both are looking forward to what the rest of their year in Estevan will be like, and enhancing their skills, so they will be ready to venture into the medical field once their studies at the College of Medicine wrap up.
