Rural Family Med

[Shawski]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm in my third year at U of C and am going to face the CARMS lottery soon. I'm seriously considering applying for rural family medicine, and am currently trying to figure out where I want to go. A little about me: I love the outdoors, skiing, climbing, hiking etc. I also have a steady girlfriend who is going to come with me. We're thinking of having kids at the beginning of residency. The factors that I am currently weighing are:

 

1) The quality of the education. If a program is stronger then others I want to hear about it (from what I hear the best is out of U of M....but then my GF has to live in Winnipeg...). I know that I wan an R3 either in anesthesia or gen surg (no comments on that please, it's a separate topic in itself) so I want a good school to start with.

 

2) Location. I'm looking at schools in BC (island and not), and on the east coast (where my Gf's family is from). Dalhousie and Newfoundland are all on the table.

 

3) Specific concerns about individual schools. For example someone told me that the program out of memorial was excellent, but that there was a great deal of time away from home (but on a plus side lots of helicopter travel).

 

4) How competitive each program is. I think I am a strong applicant, but this is still good information to know.

 

Any information that people can provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

R

[kylamonkey]

Honestly- you can't go wrong with BC. This is a fantastic province.

 

I love the island but it can feel like Alcatraz. I've been here for 7yrs. There is one good skiing mountain, the climbing is meh, the hiking is GREAT, and way less crowded than the mainland areas tend to be.

[NLengr]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm in my third year at U of C and am going to face the CARMS lottery soon. I'm seriously considering applying for rural family medicine, and am currently trying to figure out where I want to go. A little about me: I love the outdoors, skiing, climbing, hiking etc. I also have a steady girlfriend who is going to come with me. We're thinking of having kids at the beginning of residency. The factors that I am currently weighing are:

 

1) The quality of the education. If a program is stronger then others I want to hear about it (from what I hear the best is out of U of M....but then my GF has to live in Winnipeg...). I know that I wan an R3 either in anesthesia or gen surg (no comments on that please, it's a separate topic in itself) so I want a good school to start with.

 

2) Location. I'm looking at schools in BC (island and not), and on the east coast (where my Gf's family is from). Dalhousie and Newfoundland are all on the table.

 

3) Specific concerns about individual schools. For example someone told me that the program out of memorial was excellent, but that there was a great deal of time away from home (but on a plus side lots of helicopter travel).

 

4) How competitive each program is. I think I am a strong applicant, but this is still good information to know.

 

Any information that people can provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

R

 

MUN has a Northern Family Med program based out of Goosebay for ?6-9? months in your second year. That one is very popular, plus you get lots of choppers and bush planes to the coast of Labrador.

 

Note: I'm not a family resident so I can't be 100% sure of the accuracy. You'd have to double check with the school.

 

St. John's is an awesomely fun city.

[Cerena]

Come to northern bc! We need more doctors, and here we are all about rural med

If you have any qs about life in northern bc, let me know! I've lived in rural, northern BC for 22 years. And would love to answer any qs! If you like hiking, the outdoors, etc. then I have a feeling you would like it.

 

Cheers

[Renin]

Hey; our rural program is excellent. We only have 10 spots though I believe in the latest match, one was filled by an IMG (our IMGs match at the same time as we do ... or CMG's ... or whatever they are).

 

The program is based out of Winnipeg, Dauphin and Brandon; so your girlfriend will not have to live in Winnipeg all the time. Dauphin and Brandon are smaller than Winnipeg, so if she doesn't like small towns, then this may be more of an issue.

 

I am currently considering the rural family med program as well; if you have any questions, send me a PM and I'll see if I can answer them

 

Oh yes, our +1 year - I've spoken to some Anesthesia grads and they all loved it! A lot of people do +1 Anesthesia and then go on to work in OR's and in the ER. I am not sure about +1 surgery; I've never heard of that program, but surgery is something not interesting to me and I have not pursued it.

[Shawski]

I think that the life in rural BC is something that I'm definitely interested in. I'd like to develop a practice where I:

 

a) have hospital privileges

work in the ER once a week or so

c) Am in clinic about 2-3 x / week

d) Do obs

e) Have been trained in urgent time sensitive procedures, and minor procedures that can be done at a local level (lipomas, incarcerated hernias, C-sections etc.)

 

I also like to have a family life, and enjoy travelling so need to join a PCN where I am working with like minded individuals in a clinic with a real 'team attitude.' I know I don't ask for much (lol), but I may as well make my life as interesting as I can!

 

I think that ultimately I will end up in BC somewhere, but think that seeing the east coast at this point in my life might be a good idea (I have been out there before and the GF is keen for two more years there before we settle). Is it hard to get into practice into BC towns? Specifically I am thinking Revelstoke, or maybe Williams Lake (I have heard that it is beautiful but never been). Probably I would have to locum first, but is it a tough thing to do?

 

Thanks for the help everyone, it's hard to plan!

[Renin]

I think that the life in rural BC is something that I'm definitely interested in. I'd like to develop a practice where I:

 

a) have hospital privileges

work in the ER once a week or so

c) Am in clinic about 2-3 x / week

d) Do obs

e) Have been trained in urgent time sensitive procedures, and minor procedures that can be done at a local level (lipomas, incarcerated hernias, C-sections etc.)

 

I also like to have a family life, and enjoy travelling so need to join a PCN where I am working with like minded individuals in a clinic with a real 'team attitude.' I know I don't ask for much (lol), but I may as well make my life as interesting as I can!

 

I think that ultimately I will end up in BC somewhere, but think that seeing the east coast at this point in my life might be a good idea (I have been out there before and the GF is keen for two more years there before we settle). Is it hard to get into practice into BC towns? Specifically I am thinking Revelstoke, or maybe Williams Lake (I have heard that it is beautiful but never been). Probably I would have to locum first, but is it a tough thing to do?

 

Thanks for the help everyone, it's hard to plan!

 

It will probably be easy to find a town who will let you do A and D. Good luck with the rest of your list.

[A-Stark]

I can't say that I know a lot about the various incarnations of the Dal family program, but primary training sites are available in Halifax, PEI, Sydney, Saint John, Fredericton, Moncton (I think), and there are many opportunities to do rotations in smaller centres like Yarmouth, Kentville, and Summerside.

[Dream Big]

It will probably be easy to find a town who will let you do A and D. Good luck with the rest of your list.

 

I think that the life in rural BC is something that I'm definitely interested in. I'd like to develop a practice where I:

 

a) have hospital privileges

work in the ER once a week or so

c) Am in clinic about 2-3 x / week

d) Do obs

e) Have been trained in urgent time sensitive procedures, and minor procedures that can be done at a local level (lipomas, incarcerated hernias, C-sections etc.)

 

I also like to have a family life, and enjoy travelling so need to join a PCN where I am working with like minded individuals in a clinic with a real 'team attitude.' I know I don't ask for much (lol), but I may as well make my life as interesting as I can!

 

I think that ultimately I will end up in BC somewhere, but think that seeing the east coast at this point in my life might be a good idea (I have been out there before and the GF is keen for two more years there before we settle). Is it hard to get into practice into BC towns? Specifically I am thinking Revelstoke, or maybe Williams Lake (I have heard that it is beautiful but never been). Probably I would have to locum first, but is it a tough thing to do?

 

Thanks for the help everyone, it's hard to plan!

 

 

I think you can definitely have a practice like this. For example I am working in a small southern alberta town where there are a number of physicians that do everything on your list. I can't see why this wouldn't be possible in BC as well.

Just as a heads up U of A has what sounds like a great R3 year that includes 6mo of GenSurg and 6mo of Obs...might be something to look into.

hope this helps.

[createttea]

Specifically I am thinking Revelstoke, or maybe Williams Lake (I have heard that it is beautiful but never been).

 

I grew up in Williams Lake. Its a lovely little town, very cute. Not a lot to do in the town itself, but lots of mountain biking and hiking areas, lakes, camping, rivers, horses and trail riding everywhere, good deer hunting. I love the Cariboo.

 

Should I get into medicine I wouldn't mind ending up in WL.

[NLengr]

I think that the life in rural BC is something that I'm definitely interested in. I'd like to develop a practice where I:

 

a) have hospital privileges

work in the ER once a week or so

c) Am in clinic about 2-3 x / week

d) Do obs

e) Have been trained in urgent time sensitive procedures, and minor procedures that can be done at a local level (lipomas, incarcerated hernias, C-sections etc.)

 

I also like to have a family life, and enjoy travelling so need to join a PCN where I am working with like minded individuals in a clinic with a real 'team attitude.' I know I don't ask for much (lol), but I may as well make my life as interesting as I can!

 

I think that ultimately I will end up in BC somewhere, but think that seeing the east coast at this point in my life might be a good idea (I have been out there before and the GF is keen for two more years there before we settle). Is it hard to get into practice into BC towns? Specifically I am thinking Revelstoke, or maybe Williams Lake (I have heard that it is beautiful but never been). Probably I would have to locum first, but is it a tough thing to do?

 

Thanks for the help everyone, it's hard to plan!

 

E might be a bit of an issue. I think they are phasing out the GP surgeon role. Lipomas maybe, C-sections and incarcerated hernias probably not.

[A-Stark]

You'd have to pretty remote rather than rural to be doing sections or anything other than superficial resections of small lesions.

[Dream Big]

You'd have to pretty remote rather than rural to be doing sections or anything other than superficial resections of small lesions.

 

I disagree! If a town is still doing deliveries and there is no obstetrician then someone needs to be able to do urgent sections. Furthermore, I am doing my clerkship in a rural town (and by no means remote ~35mins from closest city with specialists) that has a population of 7500 with a catchment area of probably around 5000 and there are 2 family docs that do sections. Those same docs do hernias, appendectomies, tubals, surgical excisions, scopes and other procedures. The same is true for a lot of other Alberta towns that are not remote.