Sault Ste. Marie has recruited 15 new doctors through its Summer Studentship Program since it was created in 1999. Designed to entice Sault Ste. Marie medical students to return home and practice medicine when they graduate, the summer employment program offers students an opportunity to gain valuable learning experience from preceptors in various medical specialties.
A key component of the city's physician recruitment strategy, the program was created with funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and is sponsored by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM).
"Years ago, it was determined that this program would be a real benefit for the students," said Mary Jane Yorke, manager of the Sault Ste. Marie physician recruitment and retention program. "It has evolved to the point that the Canadian Association of Physician Recruiters asked us how we got it off the ground.
Students from Sault Ste. Marie in medical schools across the country and outside of Canada and the U.S. are invited to participate. A database is continually updated and expanded with the assistance of current and former students who have participated in the program and who eagerly spread the word.
Hands-on
For the month of July, students spend five days a week with physicians from different specialties. In addition, there is a hands-on component that offers a wide variety of learning experiences - from suturing and knot tying techniques practiced in a classroom setting to taking blood in a phlebotomy lab.
Students can choose to ride on emergency calls with paramedics or request a problem-based learning session with a psychiatrist. Team-building activities and social events for the students are interspersed throughout the program.
Although the program itself is not unique, the way it is run is different than in other cities.
"It's tailor-made to each student's specific request," explained Christine Pagnucco, administrative assistant for the Sault Ste. Marie physician recruitment and retention program and site administrative co-ordinator for NOSM in Sault Ste. Marie. "If someone comes to the program after one year of medical school expressing an interest in general surgery, at end of the month they've assisted in the delivery of a baby, attended an autopsy and had on-call experience with anesthesia, general surgery and orthopedics. These are normally experiences that would wait until their third year of med school."
"We make sure the students get a tour of our new hospital so they all see where they will be working someday, " added Yorke.
The success of the program can be traced back to the strong support and active involvement by local physicians. A maximum of 12 students are accepted every summer and they are matched with volunteer preceptors from the various medical disciplines.
Students say that by the end of the summer they are way ahead of their colleagues because of what they have experienced. "Between my two summers in the program, I have been exposed to a broad variety of different medical specialties," said John Doan, a third year medical student at Queen's University in Kingston. "I'm planning my elective rotations and clerkships now and it really helps already having experience in these areas."
"Coming to the Sault and seeing how things are done here shows me that there are a lot of state-of-the-art practices up here and that the physicians are on the ball and practicing at a very high level of medicine. I was with seven med students from NOSM who want to come back to the Sault. That shows me I wouldn't be the only new doctor here," added Doan.
High schools
The Summer Studentship Program also actively recruits at the high school level. Each July, program participants are responsible for planning and presenting a public information session. Students considering a career in medicine are invited and a DVD of the presentation is given to high school libraries and posted on www.SaultMed.com
After 10 years, the recruitment strategy continues to build momentum. Dr. Michael Bodnar, who participated as a student in the program four years ago, is one of its newest preceptors. "The physicians I'm working with now are the ones who were there when I was coming up through the ranks. It's nice to be able to give back - to do the things that my mentors did for me - for others," Bodnar said.
