Medical students visit Bruce County amidst vast healthcare staffing shortages
First-year medical students from across Ontario are getting a taste of the countryside this week — and for many of them, it’s their first taste of farming life.
“I'm from Toronto, so there aren't that many farms there. We saw a dairy farm. Now we're on a corn farm. I haven't seen really any farms before," said first-year med student Alison Suter.
This mandatory weeklong placement in rural and northern Ontario, for students from Western's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, has been happening for the past 26 years.
Its purpose is to expose future doctors and health care professionals to small town health care in hopes that some of them will choose rural living over big city lights.
"What we're trying to achieve is to introduce the perspective doctors, for doctor recruitment into our rural areas and show them what the rural area is about,” said Chris Cossitt, president of the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture, which has organized farm tours for Western medical students for the past 16 years.
This year's medical student tour of Bruce County comes when health care in the region may be in its worst shape ever. There are at least two emergency rooms in the area, open only on a part-time basis, with more cuts to care looming.
The Municipality of West Grey recently declared a state of emergency due to the part-time closure of the emergency room, and movement of inpatient beds out of the Durham hospital.
Issues which are apparently due to a lack of qualified health care workers.
"We need as many doctors and nurses as we possibly can. There's just a shortage in rural areas that is so important for us to try to do and check every avenue that we can get, to try to get some extra doctors into our rural areas and hospitals and look after our society and our area," said Cossitt.
Whether or not it will work however depends on where you are from.
"So I think, for me at least, it depends on the specialty I go into. I'm interested in emergency medicine. I think there's a lot of pros to working in a rural center for emergency medicine, you can either do family medicine and a plus one, and then you get to do a lot of emergency medicine," said Suter.
"I definitely want to work in a small town, whether that's part-time or full-time. I think there's something interesting about it is that you have the whole community relying on you as part of to take care of their health care," added Leann Blake, a first-year Western medical student who grew up in Norfolk County.
Blake continued, "I would appreciate being someone that could step in where it's needed and help. I had a labor and delivery floor closed where I'm from. It was super detrimental to those living in the area. I think seeing the need and seeing how people directly being able to see how people are affected by that gives you sort of the incentive to want to step up and take on that role.”
Rural residents are relying on these future health care workers to like what they see on these weeklong visits, as keeping their small town emergency rooms and hospitals open likely depends on it.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6971466.1721473775!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
investigation Prominent Vancouver lawyer accused of moving criminal cash dies before hearing
Vancouver lawyer Michael Bolton likely defended thousands of people over 50 years of practice. But in the end, he would not get a chance to defend himself.
Here are the signs you're ready to downsize your home
Amid the cost-of-living crisis, many Canadians are looking to find ways to save money, such as downsizing their home. But one Ottawa broker says there are several signs to consider before making the big decision.
Steam cleaners, kids' helmets, multivitamins: Here are the recalls of the week
Health Canada issued recalls for various items this week, including steam cleaners, hedgehog pet food, kids' bike helmets and multivitamins.
'Didn't bother nobody:' U.S. postal worker killed while delivering mail
A mail carrier was fatally shot while walking a route in Chicago, authorities said. Investigators at the U.S. Postal Service are offering up to US$250,000 for tips that solve the case.
How B.C.'s firefighting smokejumpers take 'ultra-extreme and make it seem mundane'
Standing on the edge of an open aircraft hatch, a smokejumper in a pale yellow suit steadies himself before rocking back then swinging out the door and vanishing as gravity takes over.
Quebec woman's death warns of dangers of cosmetic surgery abroad
Brian McConnell's daughter, Florence McConnell, died after a liposuction surgery complication in Morocco. Now, he warns others against undergoing cosmetic surgeries abroad.
Israeli military says it has struck several Houthi targets in Yemen in response to attacks
The Israeli army says it has struck several Houthi targets in western Yemen on Saturday following a fatal drone attack by the rebel group in Tel Aviv the previous day.
Newfoundland RCMP charge 71-year-old man with impaired driving after head-on collision kills two
Mounties in Newfoundland say a 71-year-old man is facing charges today related to his alleged involvement in a collision that killed two women in January.
BREAKING LCBO confirms strike over, stores to reopen Tuesday
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) and the union representing 10,000 of its workers reached a tentative agreement Saturday, clearing the way for stores to open Tuesday.