Provincial summer student initiative continues to prove popular in PMH
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.
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.
More information on this program, as well as other Discover Health Careers initiatives, can be seen at healthcareersmanitoba.ca or Students.
Question & Answer with Dr. Sydney McLaughlin
Dr. Sydney McLaughlin, who is preparing to start her Residency this summer in Neepawa answered some questions for us with her insight of the Discover Health Careers program. She previously participated in the Discover Health Careers (formerly known as Home for the Summer Program) in 2022 and 2023.
Can you elaborate on where you participated in the (formerly Home for the Summer) program, what you did during those weeks, and generally how you found it?
I participated in the Home for the Summer (HFTS) program during the summers of 2022 and 2023. In 2022, I spent all eight weeks of my employment at the Beautiful Plains Medical Clinic in Neepawa. During my second summer, I spent time at various locations throughout Manitoba, including Neepawa, Killarney, Ste. Rose du Lac, and Dauphin.
During these weeks I spent my time seeing patients with my preceptor in a variety of clinical situations. A typical week would include spending time in the clinic, shifts in the emergency department, seeing inpatients, helping with obstetrics, and spending some time in the operating room, either as an assist during surgical procedures or working with the anesthesia team.
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. HFTS 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.
Did anything stand out to you during that “Home for the Summer” experience? Any key learnings? Any preceptors that should be acknowledged?
HFTS taught me many things, not only about clinical medicine, but also about life in medicine and how to cope with the challenges that come with pursuing a career in medicine. I had a variety of preceptors throughout my time in HFTS that offered advice on work life balance and how to build a rewarding career. It also gave me the opportunity to further develop my procedural skills, as I gained more confidence in suturing, emergency room procedures, and management of obstetrical cases.
Dr. Sandra Wiebe was my preceptor in Neepawa for both of my summers. She provided me with lots of guidance not only for furthering my clinical medicine learning, but also my bedside manner and professional development. I am very grateful for the summers I got to spend with her and look forward to learning from her more in the future.
Dr. Brian Milligan also provided me with lots of guidance and was very great at involving me in any procedures that came up around the hospital and gave me the opportunity to learn from him whenever possible!
How have you turned that previous experience into furthering your career path? Where are you now in your health care career journey?
HFTS solidified my interest in rural medicine. 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!
Any other comments about the initiative you feel would be worth mentioning?
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! 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!