The two aspiring physicians who have been working at St. Joseph’s Hospital through the longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC) program have remain busy, learning the different aspects of practising medicine.
Brianna Hutchinson and Paige Baldwin are third-year students from the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. They have been here since August, learning from the general practitioners and the specialists in the community. It has kept them busy, but it has given them a well-rounded experience.
“For the most part, our weeks are pretty busy. We are kind of all over the place with all of those different doctors being here,” said Hutchinson.
One day they might be in the operating room, and the next they might be in the family medical clinic or the emergency room.
“Being all over the place keeps things interesting and us busy as well. Time just kind of sneaks by you in that case,” said Hutchinson.
Hutchinson said she has particularly enjoyed being in the obstetrics unit or in the operating room, but all aspects of her experience have been positive.
“I think I would be pretty bored if I was just sitting, doing the same thing day after day. But we get a lot of variety here. Every day’s a different day,” Hutchinson said.
Baldwin, meanwhile, has enjoyed the variety and getting to know the patients one-on-one in different capacities. She has seen people with the surgeon and the family physicians, and it has been great to get to know the patients.
“Once I learn something, I get to build on that learning,” said Baldwin.
Among the areas that she has been learning has been anesthesia, thanks in part to Dr. Andrey Babkis providing those services to Estevan in the past few months.
“We’ve been getting more of everything,” said Baldwin. “We’ve been getting more time with the psychiatrists, and we had to get a bit of an orientation to work on their system, so since we did that, we got more time with them.”
While the physicians have pushed Baldwin and Hutchinson, they have also been supportive.
“If there’s a subject area that we’re weak in, they’re more than willing to help us,” said Baldwin.
Hutchinson compared it to puzzle pieces that have started to come together, with the variety that they see. They haven’t encountered the same thing day in and day out. She might not learn everything about one topic at once, but during her time at the hospital, she slowly gets pieces of information to build the bigger picture.
“Medical school teaches you medicine, and I think one thing that I’ve learned from being here is the business … side of medicine,” she said. “We’re with so many different preceptors and we can see how they may run clinics or the services that they provide and how they organize their practice, and I think that’s something that I didn’t expect to get out of my experience here, but I feel I’m learning a lot from.”
Now she has a better idea of what she might want to practice, what type of clinic she wants to run, what type of services she wants to provide and how she would want to do it.
Baldwin and Hutchinson will remain in Estevan for another 3 1/2 months. They expect to continue to learn, but they also have objectives that they will have to meet, just like their peers who aren’t part of an LIC.
“We’re going to just continue to learn and enhance our practice in other areas, and all of the areas where we’re expected to be,” Baldwin said.
Coming to Estevan and being part of the LIC program is something they would recommend to their fellow students. The staff do a good job of providing opportunities and teaching them, and it gives students, regardless of their chosen path, a foundation to build on.
“I don’t think I could have asked for a better third year,” said Baldwin.
