Editor’s note: The following is the second article in Connie Gibbs’ series about Salt Spring Island family physician recruitment and retention efforts. The first one is available to read here.
By CONNIE GIBBS
Recently another family physician on Salt Spring retired without a replacement. How to attract more family doctors to Salt Spring is a puzzle with many pieces. One piece is marked “residents.”
A resident is a new graduate from medical school who has completed all the required coursework to be a doctor. Residents that choose to be family doctors must complete a two-year Family Practice Residency Program. Residents spend two months of their required two-year residency rotation learning about the practice of rural family medicine. When the residency program is complete, family doctors have many options, including working exclusively in hospitals as hospitalists or surgical assistants, providing time-away coverage for family physicians (locum coverage), or setting up a family practice in a clinic.
Here is what a recent resident had to say about her experience at the health centre clinic and in the Lady Minto Hospital emergency department:
“It was a great experience! Having accommodation for when we come up to work on Salt Spring Island is helpful. The staff are nice and incredibly competent practitioners and the medicine I saw on Salt Spring was very interesting. I would definitely consider locuming on Salt Spring Island as a new staffperson.”
As the resident’s quote shows, the Salt Spring Island doctors working with the residents are part of the recruitment puzzle. Several of our newest and youngest doctors set up practice here on Salt Spring after serving their residency time here. Some questions residents might have in deciding where to put down roots could include:
What is the medical staff like that I will be working with? Does everyone get along? How much admin stuff do I have to handle? What kind of space will I be working in? What’s the housing situation like?
Many communities in B.C. are looking for family practice doctors. A Sept. 26, 2024 Cowichan Valley article on The Discourse website describes recruitment efforts in that community.
The community benefits when the residents come to learn about rural family medicine; they are our future. We have an opportunity to welcome them into our community professionally and socially and showcase our beautiful island.
The next article in the Salt Spring Island Physician Recruitment and Retention series will be about the Practice Ready Assessment and International Medical Graduate programs. Both programs provide an opportunity to attract new family doctors to our community.