Rural – Fort St. John
Site Information
Number of Residents: 2 CMG, 2 IMG
Location: Fort St. John, BC
Community: 21,000
Hospital: FSJGH
Curriculum Type: Integrated
R2 Elective Time: 20 plus 4 weeks Rural in a smaller community in the region
Site Director Message
Over the last decade, the trend in medical education has been towards decentralized and more generalized teaching. The vision of the Rural Fort St. John Site (in its tenth year) of the UBC Family Practice Residency Program is to offer high quality medical education in rural communities providing a broad spectrum of general and specialist medical care. The majority of this general and specialist care is provided by family practitioners; thus, the Rural Fort St. John Site provides the opportunity to learn “cradle to grave” care in a truly “full service general practice” environment.
The North East Health Services Delivery Area (NEHSDA) provides health care to a population of approximately 70,000 in the North East of British Columbia, with the two largest communities of Dawson Creek and Fort St. John accounting for the bulk of the care. The NEHSDA provide per annum 91,000 ER visits, 900 deliveries, 35, 000 inpatient days, and 5000 surgeries. There are over 60 physicians working in the North East providing these services. The residency program is based in the community of Fort St. John for the majority of the time. A large catchment area including other communities in the region (Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge) makes our site very busy with a large exposure to a variety of patient cases and demographics.
Residents coming to the Rural Fort St. John Site will have unique access to clinical experience and teaching. The site is best suited to the highly self-motivated resident who is interested in directing his or her own teaching. You will be part of a formal academic program within a well-established clinical service community. If you are interested in a fantastic opportunity with a high focus on the academics of Family Medicine, community contribution, and balanced healthy living, then you should strongly consider choosing the Rural Fort St. John Site for your family medicine residency. Because of their locations, the communities of the region offer a range of outdoor and cultural activities including hiking, cross-country and downhill skiing, sledding, horseback riding, hunting, boating (lake and river) and fishing. Many indoor sports are available: swimming, soccer, gymnastics, archery, ice hockey, speed skating, curling, squash, and martial arts. There are a number of arts groups in each community: choirs, bands, theatre companies, a potter’s guild, as well as visiting performing artists. A vehicle is required as public transit does not accommodate after hours. You can also take advantage of some of the student loan forgiveness programs available for health care professionals which includes residents working in remote underserved communities — more information is listed in the FAQ.
Dr. Courtney Boyer, Co-Site Director
Dr. Hannah Galeazzi, Co-Site Director
About
Contact:
boyer.courtney@gmail.com
hannahgaleazzi@gmail.com
CaRMS Page
Click here to view the site presentation.
Learn more about Fort St. John here. Further details on activities are here.
Lead Resident Message
Welcome to Fort St. John! We are a city with population of 21,000 with a regional population of 70,000. Our program is ideal for those looking to practice broad scoped rural practice in the future. Our 20+ local family physicians manage inpatients, assist in the operating room, provide obstetrics services, work in the emergency departments, provide anesthetics, and many have special interests in certain populations.
Training is provided primarily at the Fort St John site, with residents traveling for palliative care and other electives. Academic half day is split between local sessions, video conferenced lectures with the Prince George site, and hands-on experiences such as simulation labs. We have local specialists (pediatrics, obs/gyn, surgery, internal medicine, psychiatry) and family physicians with advanced skills who are all keen to teach.
While we do have a traditional block system for our core rotations, your overall clinical exposure will be very longitudinal. This is best shown in our call, which is hospital wide independent of which rotation you are on.
With a smaller medical community, comes a very different experience as a learner. You will know all the staff by first name, and they will know yours. Staff members will advocate for your learning goals and take interest in who you are here. Respect flows both ways much more readily when you are not just another resident. Between staff taking you river boating on the Halfway, kayaking on Charlie Lake, skiing at their cabin at Powder King, hiking in the Peace hills, and golfing on the local greens, you will likely find yourself quite comfortable in our medical community.
Resident lead sessions on skills like ultrasound and surgical techniques are commonplace. Early tailoring of your learning, especially to special interests like obstetrics, GP-emergency, and GP-anesthesia, is very easy to do in this program, which allows flexibility for learners to pursue their personal goals. If you are a self-motivated learner keen to be an active part of shaping your own residency experience, this program is for you.
Dr. Sairvan Fernandes, Site Lead Resident
