The Town of Sexsmith continues its push for new doctors and officials are hoping a recent tour and an upcoming event could help their cause.
A handful of second-year medical students recently travelled to the Peace Country for a month of hands-on training, and while here took a tour with members of the South Peace Physician Attraction and Retention Committee. Committee member and Sexsmith Mayor Kate Potter says it was an eye-opener for some of group.
“For a lot of them, they haven’t left Edmonton or Calgary before and just seeing rural medicine can actually be a positive thing and there are lots of opportunities, as well as great opportunities for families, activities, recreation and that sort of stuff.”
She adds that the committee will be heading to Edmonton and Red Deer for a pair of Transition to Practice events, which are essentially job fairs for new graduates, in order to make their case for doctors to make the move up north.
“We’re gonna go down and host a booth at those two events in the hopes to get a couple that are interested to take a trip up and see if it’s a good fit. We would love to see a doctor by Christmas, our goal is to see a doctor either by Christmas or in the works by Christmas.”
Potter says she is hopes of an urban centre like Grande Prairie will help make the search more successful.
*Editors Note: The original article mentioned the tour was a group of recently graduated doctors, it has since been clarified that they were medical students in the region for a month of hands-on training. We apologize for the incorrect identification.