Establishment of an enhanced surgical skills program for family medicine physicians in Saskatchewan, Canada
Dr. Tom Smith-Windsor, University of Saskatchewan, Canada*
Dr. Victoria Vogt, Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada
Canada like Australia is a large and sparsely populated country. About 34% of our population live in Rural Canada; 25% in communities smaller than 10,000, and 8% more than 120km from a larger referral centre. As it takes a community of between 15,000 - 20,000 to sustain one full time surgeon, this leaves a large proportion of our population without access to surgical services within the “golden hour” advocated as essential in ATLS protocols. GP surgeons (most of whom were foreign trained) are rapidly disappearing from rural Canada, and there was until recently, no training programs to allow family physicians with enhanced skills to fill the gap.
To this end, a program for training in combined surgical and obstetrical skills was developed for Family Physicians in Prince Albert Saskatchewan on a pilot basis. The trainee, preceptors and communities involved all feel that this program was a success, and measures are currently being taken to establish it as an ongoing enhanced skills program which will be offered by the University of Saskatchewan, and endorsed by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
It is anticipated that an optional six month practicum will again be offered at Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe upon completion of the 12 month training program in Prince Albert. This practicum is supervised by Dr Paul Thistle who is a clinical professor with the University of Toronto, but works at Howard Hospital.
The proposed presentation will document the consequences of losing surgical services from rural communities, and will outline the development of this pilot program from beginning to end. It will also review the challenges and successes along the way. It is hoped that this presentation will enable interaction with individuals involved in such programs in Australia, or those considering establishing them.
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