Rural MB Health Mentorship Program - Clinical Experience

[nrc boy]

I thought I would start this tread to promote this program to all students interested in gaining rural clinical experience. This is the second year that the program is running and we are now sponsored by the Office of Rural and Northern Health and recognized by various personnel at the University of Manitoba. I believe this experience will be a valuable resource to any student, especially those who are interested in rural medicine or to those who would like to learn more about rural medicine. All information in regards to the program can be found at http://www.healthmentormb.ca.

 

Mandatory Information Seminars for those interested will be held on:

 

January 17th @ the U of W

6-7pm

Room 2M72

 

January 20th @ the U of M (Fort Garry)

12-1pm

GSA Lounge 217 University Center

 

You are only required to go to one of these sessions.

 

A few articles regarding the program for those who want to read more:

http://www.jorgensongroupofcompanies.com/media/2006/aug_22_001.php

http://www.ornh.mb.ca/docs/newsletters/ORNHLink_S06.pdf

 

 

If anyone has any further questions please feel free to ask.

[liszt]

I highly recommend this program. I participated last year, and it was definitely one of the highlights of my year.

The RHMP gave me the opportunity to shadow several doctors and finally experience rural medicine from a physician’s perspective. I had to talk to a lot of people, and dig around a bit in order to see different things, so I met a lot of physicians, nurses, and technicians who were, for the most part, delighted to show me around. I spent a day and a night shift in the ER and few days in the clinic, and saw so many different things! Most interesting of all, was traveling to the Sandy Bay reserve for an afternoon health clinic.

Getting to talk with the med students at the residence was great too. They were able to tell me what I was getting into, and they were also really impressed when I explained the program to them. They said I was experiencing things I wouldn't otherwise until ~3rd year.

There are a lot of issues unique to rural medicine, and I got to observe some of them first hand. The whole experience definitely reaffirmed my desire to go to medical school, and eventually practice rural medicine (which was a great motivator to study for the MCAT the rest of the summer!!).

If you're interested in rural medicine, you should definitely attend the info session and apply.