Your Career Navigator, Issue 4 - College of Medicine - University of ...

College of MedicineYour Career NavigatorThe PGME NewsletterSpring 2010Issue 4In This IssueMessage from the CareerDevelopment Office:The College of Medicineworks hard to improvephysician retentionHealth Region’s Corner:Winter Wonderland Tourwell received by FMResidentsFrom Your Practice:I explored Moose Jawand I’d like to stayCareer Development:Resident CareerDevelopmentIf you have anyquestionsplease contact:GabriellaMezo-Kricsfalusy,Career DevelopmentOfficerPH: 966-8828Email:gabriella.mk@usask.caor drop by A202 HSc B.InMessage from the Career Development OfficeThe College of Medicine works hard to improve physician retentionUndisputedly, the wealth of a country is judged bythe health of its people.Ultimately, healthcare professionals have to wearmany hats: they are healers, caregivers, confidants,teachers, motivators, and role models. Yes, manyjobs are important for our society to function. Butit is the fact that healthcare workers have special,irreplaceable skills, and commit themselves tohelping sick, vulnerable people – at times at the riskof their own health – that makes them to stand apart,that makes them really count.Is there a “Doctor in the House?” We are so familiar with this common phrasewhen people have an emergency and need a Doctor to assist the injured. Whobetter to “doctor” to the sick and needy of Saskatchewan? Our physicians can doit best, as they are well trained medically, and they understand Saskatchewan’shistory, geography, culture, environment, economy and unique peoples. Theycan best recognise the needs of those born in Saskatchewan, or of those whohave moved here from other places, plus the special needs of Aboriginals. DoesSaskatchewan have enough physicians? The answer is NO!Currently, Saskatchewan sits ninth among the provinces and territories with only1.8 physicians per 1000 people – below the Canadian average of 2.1 physiciansand well below the international benchmark of over three. To fill the gap, theprovince has relied on International Medical Graduates (IMGs) from places likeSouth Africa, India, Pakistan, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Provincially,nearly half of all physicians are IMGs. Comparing that to a province like PrinceEdward Island where there is no medical doctoral university, only 14 % ofdoctors are IMGs, it looks serious.As it was pointed out by Dr. Femi Olatunbosun, Associate Dean of FacultyAffairs, hiring qualified IMGs is fine, but it ignores the bigger issue of whylocally trained doctors leave, after graduating from the U of S.

Your Career Navigator, Issue 4http://www.medicine.usask.ca /education/careerMessage from the Career Development Office (continued)To improve the situation, the provincial Ministry of Health announced a new initiative of $ 3.5 million towarddoctor training and retention in 2007. A four year plan was created with a mandate to increase the number ofdoctors training outside of Saskatoon and Regina, increase a percentage of Canadian doctors staying in theprovince, and educate more doctors at the University of Saskatchewan.In addition, there are financial incentives for doctors to stay in the province as well. And for families, there areprograms for partners and spouses to get help finding job placements in other fields.The plan seems to be working, since the graduate retention rates are at an all-time high of around 60 % and overthe course of the four-year retention strategy, that number is expected to increase by another 10 %.Another example of how the College of Medicine is being so proactive in terms of recruitment and retentionis the establishment of the Career Development office in 2008 with a main goal to enhance recruitment andretention of U of S medical trainees to sustained practice in Saskatchewan. One of the main objectives is:- To facilitate communication about job availability between communities, students, and residents, andfamiliarize residents with the Health Human resource environment in the province of Saskatchewan.The Career Development office has been working with the Health Regions on a number of different projects.Just to mention one of them, which has already got great feedback from the residents, that would be the “KelseyTrail Health Region’s Winter Wonderland Escape Tour for Family Medicine Residents and their SignificantOthers” (please read more about this event in this issue).We would like to give an opportunity to the Regions to promote rural practice in Saskatchewan, and attract ourResidents to stay and work in the province by:- Meeting with medical trainees in the Regions, having some tours in the hospitals with physicians, doingsome hands on activities, talking about rural family practice, showing them the beauty of those places.As it was mentioned by the residents who attended the “Winter Wonderland Tour”: “It makes a big differenceif you just hear about some job availabilities from somebody, read about it somewhere or actually you visitthat place by yourself (with your significant other, as it happened this time, was really a bonus), meet with thephysicians who work there, hear their life story, see the facilities, the work environment, meet with the mayor...It was nice to feel so appreciated and valued: I felt for the first time of my medical education that the Provincereally cares about me and wants me... It was a fun, informative weekend that I would highly recommend to allof my colleagues in residency training to attend this kind of events in the future”.The Career Development office very much looks forward to collaborating with other Health Regions onbringing the “Wonders” of Saskatchewan closer to our medical trainees.Sincerely,Gabriella Mezo-Kricsfalusy, Ph.D.Career Development Officer

Your Career Navigator, Issue 4http://www.medicine.usask.ca /education/careerFrom Your PracticeI EXPLORED MOOSE JAW AND I’D LIKE TO STAYBy Dr. Gerrit vanWykMoose Jaw, Saskatchewan, is one of the hidden gems of the Province. From themoment you drive by Mac the Moose, you have the amenities of Saskatchewan’sfourth biggest city available to you, and yet experience the slower pace,friendliness and sincerity of the people of the prairies. If you feel the need for thehustle and bustle of big city, you are on the Trans Canada highway and an easy 40minute drive from Regina and an airport with direct flights to many destinations inCanada and the Minneapolis, Denver and Chicago hubs in the USA.Property is still affordable and the town has a selection of good schools and several church denominations forthose who feel the need to connect spiritually. Moose Jaw is a safe and fantastic place for families to settleand raise kids. Moose Jaw hosted the 2010 Saskatchewan Winter Games, so summer or winter, there are manyoutdoor activities available for those who live more active lives. Those, on the other hand, who live their livesmore leisurely can pamper themselves at our spas, attend a production at the Mae Wilson Theatre, or perhaps joinin one of the many arts, crafts and other activities in town.The Professional Medical Associates is Moose Jaw’s oldest family practice,conveniently located on historic downtown Main Street. The practice has built upa core of excellent administrative and nursing staff and a large stable patient basethat has been depending on the practice’s reputation for excellent patient care andservice for many years. Being an association, partners have the opportunity to set uptheir practices to suit their own interests and lifestyles and to regulate their tempoof work: according to their needs. After hour services are provided by fulltimeemergency physicians at the Moose Jaw Union hospital, hence there is no obligationto take call unless you wish to.Dr. Johan KrugerThe Moose Jaw Union Hospital is the referring hospital of the Five Hills Health Region and located within 1 kmof the PMA. The Health Region provides services to about 55,000 patients, including acute care, geriatric/longterm care, home care, mental health and addictions services as well as CT scanning, hyperbaric oxygen therapy,physiotherapy, podiatry, occupational therapy, diabetic counseling, and cardiac rehabilitation. Family practitionersare allowed admitting privileges at the hospital and are supported by specialists in Internal Medicine, Obstetricsand Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Radiology, Pathology, General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Urology,and Ophthalmology.The PMA is currently looking for two family practitioners who want to establish themselves amongst colleaguesin a supportive practice environment and in a great city for both young and old. If you think this may be for you,why don’t you come and visit us for a weekend so we can show you around our city. We know that once you haveexplored Moose Jaw, you will want to stay.Dr. Gerrit vanWyk, Urologist, PMA, can be reached at addresspma1990@shaw.caMore information on job availabilities in Five Hills Health Region can be found athttp://www.medicine.usask.ca/education/career/saskatchewan-health-regions/five-hills-health-region

Your Career Navigator, Issue 4http://www.medicine.usask.ca /education/careerQUOTES OF THEMONTHThe future belongsto those who believein the beauty of theirdreams.- Eleanor RooseveltIt is much moreimportant to knowwhat sort of patienthas a disease thanwhat sort of disease apatient has.- Sir William OslerThe art of medicine isin amusing a patientwhile nature affectsthe cure.- VoltaireCareer Development CornerRESIDENT CAREER DEVELOPMENTBy Vern Bennett, MD, FRCPCResidency Program DirectorPsychiatry, U of S“By believing passionately in something that does not yetexist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have notsufficiently desired”.- Nikos KazantzakisResident career development provides tangible and intangible rewards forresidents, the faculty engaged in residency education and our province. TheRoyal College standards for Residency training programs and the associated roleresponsibilities set out for residency training committees sets the stage to designeffective and integrated career counseling strategies as early as PGY1. Althoughstandards and role responsibilities maintain some degree of motivation forestablishing strategies to assist residents with career development, other factorsare equally and arguably of greater significance.Paul J Myers writes, “Communication – the human connection – is the key topersonal and career success”. A department searching for an enriched careerguidance process may first need to examine their existing communicationstrategies and level of collaboration with the resident and their family. It istherefore, partly through deliberate design, yet significantly complementedby the prevailing teaching and clinical practice milieu within the Departmentof Psychiatry, from which emerge several fundamental principles for guidingresident career development.• The majority of teaching faculty manifests a genuine interest in the careeraspirations of residents; a level of engagement that is guided, at least in part, bythe principles embodied in mentorship.• The Department of Psychiatry acknowledges that the most efficient approachto address Psychiatry resource needs in Saskatchewan is through the retention ofSaskatchewan graduates.• Subspecialty interests are identified early during the resident’s trainingexperience and tangible support is provided by fostering elective choices,selective rotation design, and securing fellowship sponsorship.• The new Specialty Training Requirements (2008) created the imperative toaddress critical resource deficiencies in clinical areas such as consultation liaisonpsychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, child psychiatry, and psychiatric practice withexpertise in different psychotherapy modalities.