It is with great pleasure that the government of Prince Edward Island congratulates the first four graduates of the province’s Family Medical Residency Program, says Premier Robert Ghiz.
“The implementation of a provincial Family Medical Residency Program was a major accomplishment of our government,” said Premier Ghiz. “Our health care system offers a tremendous atmosphere for learning, as well as outstanding physician preceptors and staff who are willing to share their knowledge and experience. The program allows medical students to fulfill a greater role in our health care system, and seeing these first four residents graduate is certainly a time to celebrate.”
Dr. Nora Cabilio, Dr. Sarah Campbell Tennant, Dr. Farah Daya and Dr. Tiffany Chan have each completed their two-year residency program in Prince Edward Island and will be graduating from the Dalhousie University Family Medicine Residency Program June 30, 2011. Dr. Angela MacLaren also began her residency in Prince Edward Island in 2009 but, due to a maternity leave, she will complete the program in 2012.
“These graduates began the final leg of their journey to becoming family doctors here in Prince Edward Island, and as residents each of them truly has had a positive impact on our health care system and on the health and wellness of Islanders,” said Minister Bertram. “We are so pleased to be able to celebrate with them this week; they have done a tremendous job complementing our family practice here in Prince Edward Island.”
Two of the new graduates will begin working in Prince Edward Island as locums for the summer, Nora Cabilio and Tiffany Chan. Sarah Tennant is pursuing a fellowship program in emergency medicine and Farah Daya is planning to return to work in her home province.
Three residents scheduled to graduate in 2012 have already signed Return in Service Agreements with the province. These Agreements mean that upon completion of their residency training they have committed to two years of full-time practice in the area of greatest need in Prince Edward Island.
“Being one of the members of the preliminary graduating class for the PEI family medicine residency program has been a great experience, thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment of the many family doctors and specialists in Charlottetown, Summerside, and elsewhere on the Island who gave their time and effort in mentoring and teaching us,” said Dr. Nora Cabilio. “I believe that all of the residents have been very happy to live and work in PEI over the last two years, and our satisfaction and passion for this program has been reflected in the number of medical students that have applied to our program. I think as we, the inaugural class of this program, start our respective careers, we will continue to speak proudly of our experience and level of training we achieved here in Prince Edward Island.”
As residents, the four students worked with numerous physicians across our health care system, including medical specialists in Internal Medicine, ICU, geriatrics, paediatrics, oncology, palliative care, emergency, surgery, orthopaedics, psychiatry and obstetrics. The primary preceptors for these four graduating residents throughout their program were:
∙ Dr. Andrew Wohlgemut – who worked with Nora Cabilio
∙ Dr. Stirling Keizer – who worked with Tiffany Chan
∙ Dr. Peter Hooley – who worked with Farahnaz Daya
∙ Dr. Randy MacKinnon – who worked with Sarah Tennant
Dr. George Carruthers, Director for the PEI Site Program who also takes residents into his clinical practice, says that teaching residents helps physicians to keep their medical knowledge and practices relevant and up to date. “Being involved in this program has been extremely beneficial for us because residents challenge, ask questions, and conduct research in various facets of health care.”
The Prince Edward Island Family Medical Residency Program welcomes five medical student graduates to the program each summer. There are currently 10 residents undertaking the program, with five new residents scheduled to join the program in July 2011.
Enhancing training to prepare medical graduates to practice in Prince Edward Island is an important part of the government’s physician strategy. The strategy also includes the development of a provincial physician Recruitment and Retention Secretariat, which took place in 2008; targeting sponsorship programs for students; and enhanced marketing of opportunities available for health care professionals.