The University of British Columbia (UBC) has launched an Integrated Community Clerkship in the East Kootenay.
Four medical students are taking part in the program, which includes a full year of hands-on medical training at East Kootenay Regional Hospital and at family medicine clinics in Cranbrook and Kimberley.
Third-year med-student Ariel Stuart said it differs from what most medical students do.
“When UBC medical students enter into their third year, the majority of students do what is called a rotational clerkship and it’s hands on and you’re in the clinic, in the hospital going through each specialty for about a month. You learn the ropes of each specialty and get assessed according to that specialty,” she said.
“The Integrated Community Clerkship students are the minority and we get sent off to smaller communities, where there are fewer specialties, but we get to be really focused on longitudinal community learning. We form close relationships with the staff and other students and get to learn super hands on and spend time with patients over the entire year, which is a super amazing and exciting opportunity.”
Instead of switching specialties every month or so, the students will do everything over the course of the year.
The East Kootenay site is the newest of nine UBC ICC training sites, including Trail, Vernon, Revelstoke, Comox and Fort St. John.
“The physicians and health-care teams are genuinely excited to teach and mentor these students,” said Dr. Craig Lynch, East Kootenay ICC Site Director.
“We also want them to receive a rigorous medical education while experiencing the incredible lifestyle and sense of community that make rural medicine so rewarding.”
The opportunity is even more special for Stuart, who grew up in Cranbrook.
“It’s such a privilege and I’m so lucky. it’s the first year and when I heard that it was happening I had to jump at that opportunity,” she added.
“It’s made the transitioning part so much easier. I feel less overwhelmed then I think I might be if I had stuck around in a larger centre. I’m really excited.”
The program focuses on rural medicine, which presents unique challenges.
“In a larger urban center there are a lot more resources and a lot more specialties and sub-specialties. In a smaller town it’s a lot of family doctors holding up the pillars of health,” she said.
“We have fewer specialties, but everyone works so much more closely and the skills you develop seem to be that you are way more adaptable.”
UBC officials said 93 per cent of UBC MD graduates remain in B.C. and many stay in the communities they trained in.
For Stuart, that is certainly the goal.
“If not in Cranbrook at least in the East Kootenay. I grew up here and I love the town, the people and the sense of community,” she said.
“It’s something you can’t find anywhere else, it’s unique to small towns. I absolutely would love to come back and serve the community I grew up in.”
The clerkship started on Monday, June 8. More information on the project can be found here.
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