It's summertime, and for some eager students, early exposure to health care careers can be a valuable experience that influences their future decisions.
Discover Health Careers Manitoba (formerly the 'Home for the Summer' program) offers term positions to students within the health region to provide a 'hands-on' experience in clinical, hospital or healthcare site environments that apply to their areas of training. The program initially started with medical students and extends to nursing and allied healthcare students (including career areas like public/community health nursing and pharmacy).
PMH and Shared Health cost share the initiative.
PMH offers 26 approved positions this year in Pharmacy, Primary Care, Mental Health, Therapy Services, Acute Care, Public Health, and Nutrition Services.
For first and second-year medical students, PMH has sponsored 10 positions in Neepawa, Virden, Deloraine and Brandon (in Brandon the areas include Anesthesia, Obstetrics/Gynecology, General Surgery, Psychiatry, Radiology, the Western Manitoba Cancer Centre, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology and Hospitalists).
Dr. Sydney McLaughlin is preparing to start her first year of Residency in Neepawa based out of the Beautiful Plains Medical Clinic. In 2022, she spent eight weeks through the program at the clinic in Neepawa. In 2023, she participated in various locations including Dauphin, Ste. Rose, Killarney and Neepawa.
She spent time seeing patients with a preceptor in a variety of clinical situations and appreciated opportunities to advance her education.
“I found the experience to be very rewarding and a great way to continue my learning over the summer in order to further prepare myself for my clerkship years in medical school. ‘Home for the Summer’ gave me the opportunity to explore my career options while also earning an income that helped to pay for my medical school. This is something that I am very thankful I had the opportunity to pursue,” McLaughlin stated.
"HFTS solidified my interest in rural medicine," says Dr. McLaughlin. "I knew when I started medical school that I wanted to practice in a rural community, but having the opportunity to participate in HFTS allowed me to experience the scope of practice of a rural family physician and further strengthened my decision to pursue rural medicine as a career choice. I am now just about to start my residency in rural family medicine in my home community of Neepawa. I am looking forward to returning home and giving back to my community and continuing to learn from so many amazing physicians!"
Students must be enrolled in a healthcare training program that fits a future need for PMH. The duration of sponsored positions varies depending on the type. Medical students' positions are up to a maximum of six weeks. The maximum duration for nursing, allied health, and other positions is 10 weeks. The program requires an agreed upon time commitment; students do not start or finish simultaneously.
"HFTS is a great initiative for not only exposing medical students to rural medicine but also giving health regions an opportunity to recruit medical students that are soon to be participating in the CaRMS match!" adds McLaughlin. "I would highly recommend that any student pursuing a career in medicine give the program a try as it can open doors and create opportunities for learning and career advancement. It also offers great exposure to rural medicine, which may help some students to realize a career in rural medicine is perfect for them!"
More information on this program, as well as other Discover Health Careers initiatives, can be seen at healthcareersmanitoba.ca or Students