Photo from left: (Front row) Jacob Bonin, Sadie Barnett, Ella Proulx, Laura Deschamps, Sara Calvert, Jacob Belangér, Hannah Mikhail, Talia DiMarco. Councillor Bob Stone (back). Missing from photo: Taylor Hammond, (Photo by: Charity Klingenberg).
Huntsville Mayor Karin Terziano, Councillor Bob Stone, and Huntsville economic development officer Lauren MacDermid welcomed third-year medical students last Friday afternoon with lunch at On the Docks Pub.
After lunch, Councillor Bob Stone took the students to experience the Portage Flyer, followed by a hike up to Lion’s Lookout.
This year is the first time Muskoka will host 10 medical students. Four will be based out of South Muskoka Memorial Hospital and six out of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital.
They will be here for their third year (Phase 2) Comprehensive Community Clerkship, where they will participate in a wide range of clinical learning activities including in family practices in Huntsville, Bracebridge and, for the first time, Burk’s Falls. They will also participate in the Emergency Department at both hospital sites, and other clinical and community settings. In addition, they will have a number of group learning sessions facilitated by local faculty physicians.
The Town of Bracebridge hosted a separate welcome for them on Wednesday morning.
The majority of the physicians in Muskoka will participate in teaching in some capacity during the seven months the students are here. Students are also partnered with local family physicians in the community, where they spend at least two days a week in family practices. They will also be learning within the Emergency Departments at both hospital sites, and in other clinical settings.
Until recently, the Nothern Ontario School of Medicine was a partnership between Laurentian University in Sudbury and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, established in 2002.
This year, under the provincial government of Doug Ford, NOSM became the first independent medical university in Canada: NOSM University.
Several graduates of the school’s program in the past have come to practice medicine in Muskoka, including Dr. Stacey Erven and Dr. Nelson Matyasovszky in Huntsville and Dr. Sandi Adamson, Dr. Mike Mason and Dr. Kim Forester in Bracebridge/Gravenhurst, to name a few.
A study of NOSM graduates found that 94 per cent who completed both their undergrad and postgrad studies at NOSM were practicing in Northern Ontario.
“We want them to have a really good experience here because part of this Northern Ontario School of Medicine is to end up with more doctors in Northern Ontario, which I still consider us to be part of,” said Huntsville Mayor Karin Terziano, adding that making the community attractive so that they’ll come and practise medicine here when they become doctors, is the goal.
She said that based on what she’s heard from the medical community and some of the students, Huntsville is one of the most sought-after places for students to do their placement.
So why does Huntsville have such a shortage of doctors? “I think there’s just a shortage of doctors being churned out,” said the Mayor. “And… we still face the problem that it’s not a particularly affordable place to live and as much as people like to think doctors make a lot of money, they come out of school with some huge dept.”
She said they are still students and also find it difficult to find affordable accommodation. “It’s a challenge,” said the Mayor. “Once supply reaches the demand point, that’s when we’ll see a real softening of pricing.”
Students are often looking for a seven-month rental, which is difficult. Long-term rental providers often require a one-year lease and short-term rentals, like Airbnb, only rent for up to 30 days. She said there is nothing stopping short-term rental housing providers from renting for longer periods, particularly after their busy summer season. “They could be an Airbnb for the summer and then they could do a longer-term rental. It’s just not an Airbnb license, so it’s not subject to MAT (Muskoka Accommodation Tax). People with units could certainly do both—depending on the time of year,” she noted.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox so you don’t miss anything!
Click here to support local news
0 Comments