2023
Rural communities across Canada face increasing challenges in recruiting and retaining physicians. Although spousal factors have been previously reported as a top five determinant for physicians when considering to practice rurally, no previous studies have attempted to understand the pros and cons as a dual-physician couple in rural settings. As a young couple in our final year of medical school with plans to practice rurally, we are interested in the benefits and challenges faced by dual-physician couples in rural practice (“dual-physician couples”). For our FLEX project, we conducted a review to shed light on the experiences of dual-physician couples and promote policy and practice strategies that encourage other couples to consider rural recruitment. At the end of our block, we decided to submit our review as an abstract to the 2024 SRPC Conference, as well as submit a commentary for publication.
2019
In collaboration with Kootenay Boundary Divisions of Family Practice and Interior Health, two community engagements in the region were held whereby which members of the Doukhobor public had open group discussions, brainstorming cultural needs they believed primary care providers should be aware of. Based on the content identified in these discussions, thematic objectives guided the development of a clear and concise curriculum for primary health care providers who interact with the Doukhobor culture. I completed a focused literature overview to describe the necessity for cultural competency in primary care. Using information garnered from traditional Doukhobor manuscripts, and guided by the aforementioned primary literature, I created a Doukhobor cultural competency curriculum with the focal audience being health care providers across the Kootenay Boundary region. I led an in-person community feedback/engagement session with members of the Doukhobor public. Completed project deliverables include (1) Focused literature overview, (2) Doukhobor Cultural Competence Curriculum in three forms: script, pamphlet, and PowerPoint presentation, (3) Direct community engagement with members of the Doukhobor public, and (4) Article that I authored to be published in local Doukhobor publication disseminating project outcomes/next steps.
