Eight New International Medical Graduates Recruited to PMH

Physician recruitment efforts continue within Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) region. Collaborating with the Province, Shared Health and community partners, PMH continues to strategically enhance access to physician and primary care services within the Region. One of the initiatives the region utilizes as part of overall physician recruitment strategies includes the provincial Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates (MLPIMG).        The MLPIMG Program assists foreign-trained doctors in obtaining their medical license to be able to practice as a family physician in Manitoba.

“During the past year, the region sponsored eight physicians to participate in the MLPIMG program” said Treena Slate, PMH CEO. “After much consideration, physicians that successfully graduated from the program were placed at various sites within PMH communities that require additional sufficient physician resources.”

The newly recruited physicians for communities are:

Swan River

• Dr. Uche Adediji
• Dr. Toyin Oluwatuyi
• Dr. Oghenekevwe Ekrebe (early September start)

Neepawa

• Dr. Louis Eleche

Souris

• Dr. Rilwan Azeez for Souris (mid-September start)

Roblin

• Dr. Anahita Yousefiadib
• Dr. Zoia Khattak

Virden

• Dr. Sylvia Oranika

In return for regional sponsorship, MLPIMG doctors agree to practice in their respective communities for four years. The Program is supported by the University of Manitoba —Max Rady College of Medicine, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, Shared Health-Health Care Recruitment and Retention Office, and Manitoba Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care.

“Retention and recruitment of staff, including doctors, is our top priority,” stated Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara. “I want to welcome and thank these new doctors for joining our incredible Manitoba workforce. I wish them well as they begin providing this essential care throughout Prairie Mountain Health”.

In 2024, five MLPIMG physicians were placed in the communities of Deloraine, Grandview, Russell, Ste. Rose and Virden. In 2023, MLPIMG physicians were placed in Glenboro, Hamiota, Russell, Swan River and Virden (2).

During the next rotation, which is already underway, PMH is sponsoring seven more MLPIMG physicians who commenced their training program this past June. If successful, they will be able to commence practice within the health region next fall (2026).

Summer Learning in Swan River

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 extended to nursing and allied healthcare students (including career areas like public/community health nursing and pharmacy). PMH and Shared Health cost share the initiative.

In Swan River, at the Primary Care Clinic, two local students have been active participants since May.

Brittan Yaschyshyn,  is a Midwife student, originally from Swan River. She has been working in the Clinic’s  front administration area, attending to patient care, booking appointments, dealing with tasks, and making specialist appointments.  She also has been able to a pair up with physicians and help with history and physicals for prenatal care, updating prenatal records and sitting in on prenatal care with the physicians. 

Abby Facundo is a  Nursing student from Swan River.  She has been shadowing the LPN at the clinic and has been undertaking tasks like rooming patients, taking vitals, and updating electronic medical records with chronic disease.

Both students will complete their terms in August and will be returning to University in the Fall.

PMH offered 26 approved positions this year across the region in Pharmacy, Primary Care, Mental Health, Therapy Services, Acute Care, Public Health, and Nutrition Services. For first and second-year medical students, PMH 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).

Discover Health Careers Manitoba

In partnership with Discover Health Careers Manitoba, Prairie Mountain Health Therapy Services welcomed six students in July. Students are at various stages of their training to become Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists and Physiotherapists.

The students are working to develop and finalize training tools for Rehabilitation Aides working in Long Term Care across the region. Rehabilitation Aides will utilize the training manuals and videos to implement various exercise and mobility programs for residents across all sites.

“I’m really excited for the work these students will be completing. Rehabilitation Aides will be utilizing the tools they create to provide safe, quality programming to residents to help them maintain their strength, range of motion, function and mobility,” says Jeanette Logan, Health Services Manager – Regional Therapy Services. “Once we have our tools, training will take place for all Rehabilitation Aides on the programs in the fall of 2025”.

Since 2022, Prairie Mountain Health has begun expanding the role of Rehabilitation Aides across all long-term care sites as part of its Personal Care Home Quality Initiatives Project. Rehabilitation Aides are tasked with carrying out programming as assigned from a regulated health professional, often a Physiotherapist or an Occupational Therapist. Nursing has been collaborating with Therapy Services to understand the role of Rehabilitation Aides. It will also be introduced to the new programs, enabling them to assign care to residents safely and effectively.

Georgia Tepleski is a returning student to Prairie Mountain Health. She says, “This position has provided me with such a wonderful opportunity to gain experience and insight into the medical side of therapy services while also making meaningful contributions to their professional development projects. I have truly enjoyed observing the SLPs here in Brandon, as it has strengthened my passion for going into the field of speech-language pathology.”

“It’s great to see students coming from our region and wanting to come to work with Prairie Mountain Health. We have such an opportunity in our region for future professionals to pursue meaningful careers upon graduation. The result of these students’ work will benefit residents in Long Term Care for many years to come,” says Jeanette Logan.

PMH hosts bus tours for students with interest in health care

As far as retro radio goes, Paul Simon had a hit song which, among other things, indicated you could “Hop on the bus, Gus!”. It continued, ‘There’s no need to be coy, Roy,’ and added, ‘There’s no need to discuss much!’

On May 27,  Prairie Mountain Health’s recruitment team felt there was indeed much to discuss and essentially highlighted a version of 50 ways to ‘rediscover’ by hosting students on two separate bus tours, which promoted the many benefits of working and living in rural Manitoba.

The first bus tour from Winnipeg to Brandon on May 26 involved 11 Year 1 Pharmacy Tech students and an MITT instructor. They arrived at Brandon Regional Health Centre, where they were provided information about working in PMH Pharmacy areas.  Students participated in rotating tours throughout the facility to see the various aspects of ‘pharmacy in action.’

“The students were very pleased with the opportunity to see much of what they were learning in the theory portion of their program.  The group reconvened and were provided insight by staff and management as to why they enjoy living and working in Brandon and rural areas,” stated Larissa Kominko, PMH Recruitment Manager.

For fun, the group was treated to a pizza-making and cookie-decorating activity at Brandon’s Chez Angela Bakery & Café. 

From a pharmacy course instructor who was part of the tour: “PMH offered an excellent, hands-on experience to understand how the pharmacy team works to provide safe, effective medications to the hospital. The roles are varied and diverse, never a dull moment!”

Following the tour, one of the students expressed interest in a vacant Pharmacy Tech Summer Student position, and she was a successful candidate. 

Dietitians participate in two-day tour

The second bus tour from Winnipeg on May 29 involved 17 students from the University of Manitoba in their final year of the Masters of Applied Human Nutrition (MAHN).  Their first stop was Dauphin, where students enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant, Corrina’s on Main.  Later, PMH dietitians answered healthcare job questions and led a tour of Dauphin Regional Health Centre and Community Health Services.

PMH promotes its ‘good nature,’ so students went to Northgate Trails just outside Dauphin and near the north side base of the Riding Mountain National Park escarpment, where they enjoyed a scenic hike. In the evening, students enjoyed Clear Lake, which included overnighting at Elkhorn Ranch.

Fresh cinnamon buns from the Whitehouse Bakery & Restaurant in Wasagaming greeted the group in the morning before the second-day trip to Brandon was underway. During the journey, staff noted the communities along the way, including  Erickson, Minnedosa and Rivers.

Brandon’s first stop was the Town Centre to tour the various programs and services offered to the community.  Staff provided tours and insights into their roles to help the students better understand what opportunities are available to them. The group went to the Brandon Regional Health Centre, where they enjoyed lunch prepared by the Nutrition Services staff and later toured the health centre.  The Renal Unit and Cancer Care were a couple of the highlights. 

One final activity before it’s time to load the bus home.  The students, along with PMH staff, participated in a cookie decorating activity led by Hillbilly Hills Cookie Decorating. 

From one of the participating students:

“The PMH tour was informative and fun! It opened my eyes to rural services, which I had no clue about as most of my work has been in the WRHA. It’s great to see how the different health regions operate, and all the Registered Dietitians and support staff were so nice and inviting! Also, the cinnamon buns were so good.”

PMH thanks all staff members who were involved in the tours. Also, thanks sincerely to all local businesses participating in the meals and fun activities during the initiative.

Parkland Family Medicine Residency Unit welcomes new group

Canada Day marks notable achievements across the country and province. And this year, six new residents were proud to begin their two-year training period July 1 with the Parkland Family Medicine Residency Unit based in Dauphin. This new crop of residents includes

Jennifer Setlack, Sumaya Tasneem, Nikita Gonnade, Adesola Alade, Sheryl Diana Moralde, and Abieyuwa Agada. They will graduate in June 2027.

The residents will work with a variety of preceptors over the two years in a variety of clinical settings and in the community of Dauphin, Ste. Rose, Grandview, Brandon and Winnipeg (for four specialty rotations).

Graduates from the last two-year program have started working in Manitoba and Ontario, with the exception of one who is taking a third-year of residency focusing on care of the elderly.

The Parkland Unit began in July 1991 and therefore has a long-standing history of training rural family medicine residents. The success rate of graduating residents who practice in a rural setting is 83%.  Strong dedication from the local physician group to teach along with interprofessional staff and a community that is open to trainees are the main reasons of the continued success of this program.    

First-year medical students tour PMH communities

Fifteen communities participate in U of M “Rural Week”

An enthusiastic bunch of first-year medical students from the University of Manitoba’s (U of M) Max Rady College of Medicine (Rady Faculty of Health Sciences) got a first-hand look at the sights and sounds of the vibrant rural communities within Prairie Mountain Health ({PMH) region. Students noted the lifestyle opportunities, attractions and experiences in rural areas and, through feedback, provided many positive reviews, including some from participants who were learning of life outside the Manitoba perimeter for the very first time.

Some 46 medical students participated in ‘Rural Week’ within the region from May 26 – May 30 and June 2 – 6. The medical students were assigned to visit 15  participating communities this year, including Brandon, Carberry, Dauphin, Deloraine, Glenboro, Grandview, Hamiota, Killarney, Neepawa, Roblin, Russell, Souris, Ste. Rose, Swan River and Virden.

Rural Week— coordinated annually by the Department of Family Medicine, Shared Health, Health Care Recruitment and Retention Office, and rural, regional health authorities enlist community stakeholders to assist with planning the lifestyle tours and events. Students also participate in various rural physician practices and tours of healthcare sites.

PMH Regional Lead of Medical Services and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Adrian Fung added:

“This exposure is as much about rural lifestyle as it is about rural medicine.  Rural Week is an exciting time, as it allows us as a region to highlight our communities, staff, and facilities to the medical students while also giving the students a chance to see how rewarding and fulfilling rural practice can be.”

For example, four students in Ste. Rose provided this overview, which noted the variety of care some family physicians offer in rural areas.

“There are four physicians in Ste. Rose who serve a broad community of patients from multiple other communities such as Rorketon, Ebb and Flow, Kinosota, etc.; many patients have to drive quite far from other places in the catchment area.  Dr. Blais, a Metis physician who lives in Dauphin, also drives to Ste. Rose’s hospital to work there. She also does one or two days a week at the Health Center in Ebb and Flow. She is the only physician who works at the Ebb and Flow Health Center, an action that directly serves to bridge the health inequity of access to medical care.”

PMH thanks all physician preceptors, healthcare professionals, and community volunteers whose dedication makes Rural Week successful. This important Week would not have been possible without the commitment and enthusiasm of the communities, who generously share their time and spirit to showcase all they have to offer.

PMH Attends Career Fair in Dauphin

Prairie Mountain Health Recruitment Coordinators Nicole Gulenchin and Savannaha Robertson were on hand at a career event in Dauphin May 14. The Training and Employment Fair was held at the Dauphin Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation (DNRC) Community Centre and was spearheaded by DNRHC and Assiniboine College. The PMH Booth highlighted available careers throughout the community and region and also provided information on the benefits of working in health care.  This was a first-time event held to highlight Parkland opportunities and community connections. Networking with employment organizations and health partners and stakeholders in the area were also key benefits of the one-day local expo.

PMH attends career day at Ebb and Flow First Nation

Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) Addiction Services was on hand at the Ebb and Flow First Nation Career Day on April 30 and took the opportunity to display information on the many health care career opportunities within the health region and provide background on addiction services in general. The one-day event for high school and adult education students featured over 30 booths, and many presenters delivered inspiring messages and guidance to the students in attendance.

One of the many highlights included two young ladies who had the opportunity to share their science fair projects, which won awards at the University of Manitoba science fair. They will try to do the same at an upcoming national science fair. As a bonus, the lead singer from the Manitoba country music band Doc Walker even attended the event, where he gave an impactful speech, performed some songs and then welcomed attendees to get autographs/pictures and learn how to get into the music industry!

PMH Addictions Community Addictions Worker Sesley Sloboda was very pleased with the time spent at the career day.

“We had a great turnout at our booth, with many students interested in learning about our services and exploring a future career with Addiction Services. There was also some wonderful networking with other agencies that will enhance our collaborative efforts to support our clients best. I’m already looking forward to attending Ebb and Flow in the future!”

For more information on PMH careers or Addictions Services, visit the PMH website at prairiemountainhealth.ca