Yellowknife: Canada’s First Circumpolar Family Medicine Residency Site
Problem Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT), like other regions in the circumpolar north primarily inhabited by Indigenous peoples, faces challenges in recruiting and retaining physicians. Communities in this vast, diverse region depend largely on external medical professionals for health care. Con...
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crovidcr:10.1097/acm.0000000000005134 2023-08-15T12:42:38+02:00 Yellowknife: Canada’s First Circumpolar Family Medicine Residency Site Horvey, Samantha Babenko, Oksana Szafran, Olga D’Hont, Thomsen Heyes, Kajsa Pontin, David 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000005134 https://journals.lww.com/10.1097/ACM.0000000000005134 en eng Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) Academic Medicine volume 98, issue 6, page 699-702 ISSN 1040-2446 Education General Medicine journal-article 2022 crovidcr https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000005134 2023-07-21T11:44:31Z Problem Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT), like other regions in the circumpolar north primarily inhabited by Indigenous peoples, faces challenges in recruiting and retaining physicians. Communities in this vast, diverse region depend largely on external medical professionals for health care. Consequently, these communities receive discontinuous medical care from physicians who lack local knowledge and are available only temporarily. The shortage of physicians for people residing in northern Canada requires a sustainable, long-term solution. Approach The authors describe establishing Canada’s first circumpolar family medicine residency training site in Yellowknife, NWT. The site was launched in 2020 as a partnership between the University of Alberta, Alberta Health Services, and 3 local health authorities in the NWT. The residency site, which bases residents in the local community, is expected to positively impact family physician recruitment and retention by allowing residents to build connections with local communities and identify as a northern physician. Outcomes As of fall 2022, 4 residents had trained with the Yellowknife family medicine residency site. Two of these 4 residents graduated in 2022, both of whom plan to continue practicing medicine in the NWT. Residents have positively influenced medical care in the NWT, providing care in close to 20 small and remote communities. The presence of residents decreased appointment wait-times for some teams by as much as 60%, improved primary care screening, and enabled the provision of medical services at critical times. Furthermore, their presence has fostered academic spirit in the medical communities and had a positive impact on the communities as a whole. Next Steps The authors provide key insights and lessons learned from the establishment of the remote residency site. To develop and improve the site, continuous program evaluation is planned. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Territories Yellowknife Ovid (via Crossref) Canada Northwest Territories Yellowknife Academic Medicine Publish Ahead of |
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Education General Medicine |
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Education General Medicine Horvey, Samantha Babenko, Oksana Szafran, Olga D’Hont, Thomsen Heyes, Kajsa Pontin, David Yellowknife: Canada’s First Circumpolar Family Medicine Residency Site |
topic_facet |
Education General Medicine |
description |
Problem Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT), like other regions in the circumpolar north primarily inhabited by Indigenous peoples, faces challenges in recruiting and retaining physicians. Communities in this vast, diverse region depend largely on external medical professionals for health care. Consequently, these communities receive discontinuous medical care from physicians who lack local knowledge and are available only temporarily. The shortage of physicians for people residing in northern Canada requires a sustainable, long-term solution. Approach The authors describe establishing Canada’s first circumpolar family medicine residency training site in Yellowknife, NWT. The site was launched in 2020 as a partnership between the University of Alberta, Alberta Health Services, and 3 local health authorities in the NWT. The residency site, which bases residents in the local community, is expected to positively impact family physician recruitment and retention by allowing residents to build connections with local communities and identify as a northern physician. Outcomes As of fall 2022, 4 residents had trained with the Yellowknife family medicine residency site. Two of these 4 residents graduated in 2022, both of whom plan to continue practicing medicine in the NWT. Residents have positively influenced medical care in the NWT, providing care in close to 20 small and remote communities. The presence of residents decreased appointment wait-times for some teams by as much as 60%, improved primary care screening, and enabled the provision of medical services at critical times. Furthermore, their presence has fostered academic spirit in the medical communities and had a positive impact on the communities as a whole. Next Steps The authors provide key insights and lessons learned from the establishment of the remote residency site. To develop and improve the site, continuous program evaluation is planned. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Horvey, Samantha Babenko, Oksana Szafran, Olga D’Hont, Thomsen Heyes, Kajsa Pontin, David |
author_facet |
Horvey, Samantha Babenko, Oksana Szafran, Olga D’Hont, Thomsen Heyes, Kajsa Pontin, David |
author_sort |
Horvey, Samantha |
title |
Yellowknife: Canada’s First Circumpolar Family Medicine Residency Site |
title_short |
Yellowknife: Canada’s First Circumpolar Family Medicine Residency Site |
title_full |
Yellowknife: Canada’s First Circumpolar Family Medicine Residency Site |
title_fullStr |
Yellowknife: Canada’s First Circumpolar Family Medicine Residency Site |
title_full_unstemmed |
Yellowknife: Canada’s First Circumpolar Family Medicine Residency Site |
title_sort |
yellowknife: canada’s first circumpolar family medicine residency site |
publisher |
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000005134 https://journals.lww.com/10.1097/ACM.0000000000005134 |
geographic |
Canada Northwest Territories Yellowknife |
geographic_facet |
Canada Northwest Territories Yellowknife |
genre |
Northwest Territories Yellowknife |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories Yellowknife |
op_source |
Academic Medicine volume 98, issue 6, page 699-702 ISSN 1040-2446 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1097/acm.0000000000005134 |
container_title |
Academic Medicine |
container_volume |
Publish Ahead of |
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1774296966020202496 |