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Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine
../../../ 1998

President's message: training

Patricia Vann, MD
Dryden, Ont.
President,
Society of Rural Physicians
of Canada

CJRM 1998;3(4):205

© 1998 Society of Rural Physicians of Canada


The SRPC's Registry Group Committee of students, residents and rural practitioners is establishing a national registry of rural physicians wishing to take medical students for clinical or research electives. A recent student wrote to me that "my rural elective, among other things, gave me a glimpse into the background of the rural patients I have so often seen in major teaching hospitals." It gave him an appreciation of a rural community and its resources. He completed his elective not knowing if he would return to rural medicine but knowing that "I want to be like them. I want to be as good a doctor as they are." He stated that "fellow classmates, who were unable to experience a northern elective, missed a precious opportunity." It is through exposure such as this that future physicians gain insight into rural medicine as a career option and learn to appreciate the complexities of rural medicine should they choose to stay in a larger centre.

The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), with input from the SRPC, has formed a working group to look at rural family medicine curricula. The group, chaired by James Rourke, comprises both CFPC and SRPC members. Their mandate is to study the current training of family practice residents and to outline a core postgraduate curriculum. They will also explore the potential of advanced skills for rural physicians in postgraduate training and receive feedback from the SRPC.

Currently, general practice anesthesia, advanced obstetrics with cesarean-section training and general surgery have been learned informally. Now, the opportunity to obtain even these skills is diminishing as funding cuts occur. The SRPC would like formalized programs developed and would like to help find funding for these programs. This would include opportunities for continuing medical education, the maintenance of competence and support for graduates of these programs once they are in rural practice. Working groups have been established: surgery chaired by Nancy Humber, Lillooet, BC; anesthesia chaired by Brad Armstrong, Hinton, Alta.; obstetrics chaired by Stuart Iglesias, Hinton, Alta. and Peter Hutten-Czapski, Haileybury, Ont.

Our colleagues in rural British Columbia have banded together during their long battle with the government over compensation for call and continuing medical education. Stuart Johnston, Vanderhoof, BC, chair of our regional SRPC group, has done an incredible job of pulling everyone together. It is surprising that more rural doctors in British Columbia have not left rural practice, considering what they have been through. They are working in rural medicine despite the hardships because they care for their patients and for the communities in which they work. This is a skill that cannot be taught and is one that binds us together.