A group of med students visited Melfort Saturday to look into rural medicine. (Will Brooks, Coordinator, Community Engagement/Saskatchewan Medical Association)

By Cam Lee

Med students visit Melfort

Melfort plays host to med students and residents

Feb 12, 2024 | 1:00 PM

A group of medical students has had a chance to experience health care in Melfort.

The 45 students stopped by the city Feb. 10 as part of the Saskatchewan Medical Association’s (SMA) Roadmap Program, which highlights rural and regional centres in the province.

The goal of the program is to increase the number of locally-trained physicians working in rural or smaller communities.

Dr. Geoff Zerr, a family physician that has been in Melfort for about six years, told northeastNOW the group of first and second-year students had a chance to come to the city to see what rural medicine is like.

The med students “get to experience the community and really see what keeps our physicians here and practicing and what makes us so passionate about staying out here,” Zerr explained.

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He said if they can share that passion they would love to be able to recruit the students, but if nothing else they were able to learn a little more, and that’s the goal.

The shortage of family doctors is country-wide, according to Zerr, with a number of recent retirements. Family medicine is especially in need of physicians, with many people unable to secure a family doctor due to overwhelming demand.

“In Melfort, we’re no stranger to that. We’ve had about four physicians move from the community in the last two years, so we’ve been a little bit tight as well for certain services we can offer,” said Zerr.

He explained they want to engage with students as early as possible in an effort to recruit them to the area. The students then learn more about local patients, the community, how local physicians practice, and the opportunities that exist.

Rural medicine was appealing to Zerr because it can be customizable, with flexibility in work hours and setting. Zerr said there are physicians in Melfort that specialize in women’s health, anesthesia, general surgery, and teaching.

“That flexibility, that customization to me is what makes it really interesting and really fun,” Zerr explained. Being outside of the big cities, with a sense of community in an area closer to nature was also appealing to Zerr when he made Melfort his home.

There were more than 45 students that applied to the program, and Zerr said it’s nice to see such strong interest.

One of the students that was part of the SMA Roadmap Program stop in Melfort was Eriq Marleau, who is originally from Star City and went to high school in Tisdale.

He said working in a larger hospital like Melfort in the area where he’s from appeals to him, and that he’s worked with Dr. Zerr and other Melfort physicians in the past.

“It’s always nice to come back to the community. I really enjoyed my experiences here and all of the (doctors) have been incredible,” explained Marleau, who is a second-year student at the University of Saskatchewan based out of Regina. He is also the SMA representative of his class.

“It’s a place where I’m very interested in settling down afterwards so I was excited to come back for that as well.”

While Marleau has ties to the area – and subsequently to rural medicine – not every student can say the same. Marleau said it’s important for students to be exposed to as many types of practices as possible.

“I also think it’s something a lot of people don’t consider until they actually see it, and it always makes me really happy to hear people after these tours talk about ‘oh, rural medicine sounds really cool, it’s something I might consider,'” Marleau said.

The physicans’ explanation of what they do in rural practice swayed a lot of people, according to Marleau. The students were impressed with how diverse a rural practice can be, and how many different areas of specialty there can be in family medicine. Marleau said the diverse areas of work and the lifestyle local physicians can enjoy here were of interest to many of the students.

Marleau added the people in rural settings are also wonderful to work with.

The students were able to take a tour of the hospital to see how things are laid out. They also brushed up on their fundamental skills including IV access, ultrasounds, intubations, suturing, and casting.

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cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK