This challenge is underscored by the shortage of doctors left more than 100,000 Nova Scotians without a family doctor. Despite these challenges, the Sacred Heart Community Health Center in Cheticamp has managed to retain doctors for long periods of time and even recruit youth in the rural area. Dr. Marcel Aucoin was a family doctor in Cheticamp for 26 years. He retired last month, but not before hiring his own replacement doctor — the daughter of one of his colleagues. “It was an easy fix, so to speak, for our situation,” he said.
Support systems help
Aucoin said doctors at Cheticamp discussed his succession plan for nearly five years to fill the void he would leave behind. “When you have a doctor trying to move to an area where there’s a lack of support, the chances of that doctor staying put decrease because the demands are so high,” Aucoin said. “It’s much easier to recruit someone with roots in the area, with family support, with friends, already having a whole social support system.” Mindy LeBlanc is the Physician Recruiting Consultant for the Northern Nova Scotia Zone. He says retired doctors who find their own local replacement are rare. “We see it, but it doesn’t happen as often as we’d like,” he said. He says there are many challenges in recruiting doctors in rural areas of the province — including securing housing and finding doctors willing to come into an established practice with large patient lists. “Sometimes that can be a little scary or intimidating for new doctors,” he said.
It is looking to attract new doctors
Aucoin says one reason the small village has been able to retain doctors is because of the supportive environment. “We have a good team, a good system, we support each other. And it invites a lot of residents and medical students that come in,” he said. One of the visiting medical students was Dr. Michel Chiasson. He started at the hospital about 20 years ago after doing a rotation with Aucoin. Dr. Michel Chiasson has been a doctor at Sacred Heart Community Health Center in Cheticamp for a little over 20 years. (Medical Affairs at Nova Scotia Health) He saw the benefits of a farming family practice and decided to settle in Cheticamp and build a life there. He has family ties to the area and says those roots help with conservation. “There’s no mystery that this recipe seems to work — growing your own doctors,” he said. Chiasson hopes medical school admissions consider a broad representation of applicants from both rural and urban areas. “This will increase the chances of doctors returning to rural areas,” he said.
Medical School Initiatives
Dalhousie Medical School will add five positions for applicants from rural Nova Scotia beginning in September. (Matthew Moore/CBC News) Dalhousie University has created initiatives to train medical students in rural areas. In 2019, the university introduced a family medicine experience where all first-year medical students spend six and a half days with a family doctor. Students spend a week observing a rural doctor in a popular unit called rural week. A new partnership between Dalhousie Medical School and Cape Breton University, starting in September, will see CBU sponsor five positions for candidates from rural Nova Scotia in hopes of alleviating rural family physician shortages. The university also introduced a clerkship program in which four medical students spend their entire third year of medical school training under physicians in Cape Breton. The program has since expanded to the South Shore of Nova Scotia. A Dalhousie spokesperson says the clerkship program strengthens students’ ties to the community and gives them a better feel for interning in a rural setting — with the hope of one day returning and working there. LeBlanc says physician recruiters work with community navigators to help find accommodations or help spouses find jobs. While Aucoin isn’t sure there’s a magic formula for physician retention, he says recruiting students who express an interest in giving back to their community is ideal.
title: “How A Rural Nova Scotia Village Found A New Doctor Amid A Widespread Shortage Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-24” author: “Charlotte Rogers”
This challenge is underscored by the shortage of doctors left more than 100,000 Nova Scotians without a family doctor. Despite these challenges, the Sacred Heart Community Health Center in Cheticamp has managed to retain doctors for long periods of time and even recruit youth in the rural area. Dr. Marcel Aucoin was a family doctor in Cheticamp for 26 years. He retired last month, but not before hiring his own replacement doctor — the daughter of one of his colleagues. “It was an easy fix, so to speak, for our situation,” he said.
Support systems help
Aucoin said doctors at Cheticamp discussed his succession plan for nearly five years to fill the void he would leave behind. “When you have a doctor trying to move to an area where there’s a lack of support, the chances of that doctor staying put decrease because the demands are so high,” Aucoin said. “It’s much easier to recruit someone with roots in the area, with family support, with friends, already having a whole social support system.” Mindy LeBlanc is the Physician Recruiting Consultant for the Northern Nova Scotia Zone. He says retired doctors who find their own local replacement are rare. “We see it, but it doesn’t happen as often as we’d like,” he said. He says there are many challenges in recruiting doctors in rural areas of the province — including securing housing and finding doctors willing to come into an established practice with large patient lists. “Sometimes that can be a little scary or intimidating for new doctors,” he said.
It is looking to attract new doctors
Aucoin says one reason the small village has been able to retain doctors is because of the supportive environment. “We have a good team, a good system, we support each other. And it invites a lot of residents and medical students that come in,” he said. One of the visiting medical students was Dr. Michel Chiasson. He started at the hospital about 20 years ago after doing a rotation with Aucoin. Dr. Michel Chiasson has been a doctor at Sacred Heart Community Health Center in Cheticamp for a little over 20 years. (Medical Affairs at Nova Scotia Health) He saw the benefits of a farming family practice and decided to settle in Cheticamp and build a life there. He has family ties to the area and says those roots help with conservation. “There’s no mystery that this recipe seems to work — growing your own doctors,” he said. Chiasson hopes medical school admissions consider a broad representation of applicants from both rural and urban areas. “This will increase the chances of doctors returning to rural areas,” he said.
Medical School Initiatives
Dalhousie Medical School will add five positions for applicants from rural Nova Scotia beginning in September. (Matthew Moore/CBC News) Dalhousie University has created initiatives to train medical students in rural areas. In 2019, the university introduced a family medicine experience where all first-year medical students spend six and a half days with a family doctor. Students spend a week observing a rural doctor in a popular unit called rural week. A new partnership between Dalhousie Medical School and Cape Breton University, starting in September, will see CBU sponsor five positions for candidates from rural Nova Scotia in hopes of alleviating rural family physician shortages. The university also introduced a clerkship program in which four medical students spend their entire third year of medical school training under physicians in Cape Breton. The program has since expanded to the South Shore of Nova Scotia. A Dalhousie spokesperson says the clerkship program strengthens students’ ties to the community and gives them a better feel for interning in a rural setting — with the hope of one day returning and working there. LeBlanc says physician recruiters work with community navigators to help find accommodations or help spouses find jobs. While Aucoin isn’t sure there’s a magic formula for physician retention, he says recruiting students who express an interest in giving back to their community is ideal.
title: “How A Rural Nova Scotia Village Found A New Doctor Amid A Widespread Shortage Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-25” author: “Daniel Rann”
This challenge is underscored by the shortage of doctors left more than 100,000 Nova Scotians without a family doctor. Despite these challenges, the Sacred Heart Community Health Center in Cheticamp has managed to retain doctors for long periods of time and even recruit youth in the rural area. Dr. Marcel Aucoin was a family doctor in Cheticamp for 26 years. He retired last month, but not before hiring his own replacement doctor — the daughter of one of his colleagues. “It was an easy fix, so to speak, for our situation,” he said.
Support systems help
Aucoin said doctors at Cheticamp discussed his succession plan for nearly five years to fill the void he would leave behind. “When you have a doctor trying to move to an area where there’s a lack of support, the chances of that doctor staying put decrease because the demands are so high,” Aucoin said. “It’s much easier to recruit someone with roots in the area, with family support, with friends, already having a whole social support system.” Mindy LeBlanc is the Physician Recruiting Consultant for the Northern Nova Scotia Zone. He says retired doctors who find their own local replacement are rare. “We see it, but it doesn’t happen as often as we’d like,” he said. He says there are many challenges in recruiting doctors in rural areas of the province — including securing housing and finding doctors willing to come into an established practice with large patient lists. “Sometimes that can be a little scary or intimidating for new doctors,” he said.
It is looking to attract new doctors
Aucoin says one reason the small village has been able to retain doctors is because of the supportive environment. “We have a good team, a good system, we support each other. And it invites a lot of residents and medical students that come in,” he said. One of the visiting medical students was Dr. Michel Chiasson. He started at the hospital about 20 years ago after doing a rotation with Aucoin. Dr. Michel Chiasson has been a doctor at Sacred Heart Community Health Center in Cheticamp for a little over 20 years. (Medical Affairs at Nova Scotia Health) He saw the benefits of a farming family practice and decided to settle in Cheticamp and build a life there. He has family ties to the area and says those roots help with conservation. “There’s no mystery that this recipe seems to work — growing your own doctors,” he said. Chiasson hopes medical school admissions consider a broad representation of applicants from both rural and urban areas. “This will increase the chances of doctors returning to rural areas,” he said.
Medical School Initiatives
Dalhousie Medical School will add five positions for applicants from rural Nova Scotia beginning in September. (Matthew Moore/CBC News) Dalhousie University has created initiatives to train medical students in rural areas. In 2019, the university introduced a family medicine experience where all first-year medical students spend six and a half days with a family doctor. Students spend a week observing a rural doctor in a popular unit called rural week. A new partnership between Dalhousie Medical School and Cape Breton University, starting in September, will see CBU sponsor five positions for candidates from rural Nova Scotia in hopes of alleviating rural family physician shortages. The university also introduced a clerkship program in which four medical students spend their entire third year of medical school training under physicians in Cape Breton. The program has since expanded to the South Shore of Nova Scotia. A Dalhousie spokesperson says the clerkship program strengthens students’ ties to the community and gives them a better feel for interning in a rural setting — with the hope of one day returning and working there. LeBlanc says physician recruiters work with community navigators to help find accommodations or help spouses find jobs. While Aucoin isn’t sure there’s a magic formula for physician retention, he says recruiting students who express an interest in giving back to their community is ideal.
title: “How A Rural Nova Scotia Village Found A New Doctor Amid A Widespread Shortage Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-07” author: “James Cohen”
This challenge is underscored by the shortage of doctors left more than 100,000 Nova Scotians without a family doctor. Despite these challenges, the Sacred Heart Community Health Center in Cheticamp has managed to retain doctors for long periods of time and even recruit youth in the rural area. Dr. Marcel Aucoin was a family doctor in Cheticamp for 26 years. He retired last month, but not before hiring his own replacement doctor — the daughter of one of his colleagues. “It was an easy fix, so to speak, for our situation,” he said.
Support systems help
Aucoin said doctors at Cheticamp discussed his succession plan for nearly five years to fill the void he would leave behind. “When you have a doctor trying to move to an area where there’s a lack of support, the chances of that doctor staying put decrease because the demands are so high,” Aucoin said. “It’s much easier to recruit someone with roots in the area, with family support, with friends, already having a whole social support system.” Mindy LeBlanc is the Physician Recruiting Consultant for the Northern Nova Scotia Zone. He says retired doctors who find their own local replacement are rare. “We see it, but it doesn’t happen as often as we’d like,” he said. He says there are many challenges in recruiting doctors in rural areas of the province — including securing housing and finding doctors willing to come into an established practice with large patient lists. “Sometimes that can be a little scary or intimidating for new doctors,” he said.
It is looking to attract new doctors
Aucoin says one reason the small village has been able to retain doctors is because of the supportive environment. “We have a good team, a good system, we support each other. And it invites a lot of residents and medical students that come in,” he said. One of the visiting medical students was Dr. Michel Chiasson. He started at the hospital about 20 years ago after doing a rotation with Aucoin. Dr. Michel Chiasson has been a doctor at Sacred Heart Community Health Center in Cheticamp for a little over 20 years. (Medical Affairs at Nova Scotia Health) He saw the benefits of a farming family practice and decided to settle in Cheticamp and build a life there. He has family ties to the area and says those roots help with conservation. “There’s no mystery that this recipe seems to work — growing your own doctors,” he said. Chiasson hopes medical school admissions consider a broad representation of applicants from both rural and urban areas. “This will increase the chances of doctors returning to rural areas,” he said.
Medical School Initiatives
Dalhousie Medical School will add five positions for applicants from rural Nova Scotia beginning in September. (Matthew Moore/CBC News) Dalhousie University has created initiatives to train medical students in rural areas. In 2019, the university introduced a family medicine experience where all first-year medical students spend six and a half days with a family doctor. Students spend a week observing a rural doctor in a popular unit called rural week. A new partnership between Dalhousie Medical School and Cape Breton University, starting in September, will see CBU sponsor five positions for candidates from rural Nova Scotia in hopes of alleviating rural family physician shortages. The university also introduced a clerkship program in which four medical students spend their entire third year of medical school training under physicians in Cape Breton. The program has since expanded to the South Shore of Nova Scotia. A Dalhousie spokesperson says the clerkship program strengthens students’ ties to the community and gives them a better feel for interning in a rural setting — with the hope of one day returning and working there. LeBlanc says physician recruiters work with community navigators to help find accommodations or help spouses find jobs. While Aucoin isn’t sure there’s a magic formula for physician retention, he says recruiting students who express an interest in giving back to their community is ideal.
