Learning on the front lines of family medicine

Feature Stories | 15 Oct 2024

Mina Jordanides is in her second year in the Queen’s-Lakeridge Health MD Family Medicine Program, launched in September 2023. The program’s first-in-Canada medical education model is specifically designed to address the shortage of family doctors. Her first year included seven weeks of hands-on training alongside practicing family physicians, including a month-long rural community placement in May 2024. This is a first-person account of her experiences.

Mini Jordanides in front of the hospital sign — Front lawn of the locum house I lived in…
next to the hospital!

A major advantage of the MD Family Medicine Program is the early exposure to clinical opportunities including weekly family medicine clinic placements in Oshawa, community week, and community month.

In our first year, my fellow students and I were embedded in early workplace experiences in urban centres and small communities across the Durham Region and southeastern Ontario. We developed skills to work in wide range of medical practice settings – learning not only the medical and social determinants of health in various communities but also practice management challenges.

I was lucky enough to attend Bancroft, Ontario for both community week and month where I was exposed to various areas of medicine including a Family Health Team, inpatient unit, and emergency department.

Bancroft is a small community of approximately 3,381 residents year-round. My first impression of medicine in Bancroft was its slower pace as only four of 10 beds in the inpatient unit were occupied. This initial impression quickly changed after working a shift in the emergency department, whereby the list of patients to see continued expanding throughout the 12 hours I was there. The team also noted that the inpatient unit tends to be quieter in the spring until cottagers arrive, after which they often struggle with bed capacity. Furthermore, I noticed that many patients in the emergency department didn’t have a family physician which resulted in a variety of clinical presentations, ranging from severe chest pain (e.g., pulmonary embolism and pleural effusion) to simple ear flushing or medication refills.

Picture taken during my emergency department shift in Bancroft (preceptor on the left, classmate on the right). — Picture taken during my emergency
department shift in Bancroft (preceptor on
the left, classmate on the right).

In terms of the roles played by family physicians, I learned about the flaws of some practice norms in urban areas, such as resorting to referrals too quickly. One preceptor (clinical mentor) emphasized that we are all ‘doctors’ and thus have the tools necessary to try helping patients on our own first without over relying on specialists who are not always readily available (especially in rural communities). For example, my preceptors regularly performed cortisone injections for joint pain, cryotherapy/monitoring of local basal and squamous cell carcinoma, and cyst removals. I even saw a thoracentesis procedure done (needle inserted into back to remove fluid from around the lung). Some of my favourite highlights were assisting with dermatological procedures and performing my first immunization, suture and suture removal.

I also noticed that the physicians heavily involve themselves with advocacy work to improve their patients’ health, retain healthcare professionals, and create a welcoming/accessible environment. For instance, I was inspired by the fact that the physicians opened the local gym ‘Bancroft Fitness’ and regularly lead gym sessions for patients experiencing chronic pain; I attended a couple cardiopulmonary rehab sessions at the gym, and they were amazing!

Moreover, I appreciated the extent to which community members serve as advocates and health enablers by supporting one another such as eating at local restaurants, sharing firewood, and raising money to bring a CT scan to the hospital.

Finally, I really enjoyed being placed with my phenomenal mentor for the weekly Oshawa placements throughout my first year as it allowed me to fill-in my knowledge gaps over time, apply case studies from class to real-life scenarios, as well as see the same patients’ multiple times. I’m expecting more of the same when I begin a new weekly mentorship this fall.

Overall, I can’t wait for more exposure to patients, communities, and family medicine practice models and styles in my second year of the program. To the incoming first-year cohort: learn a lot but don’t forget to have fun, too.

*Exploring the Bancroft community during my spare time!*

Learning on the front lines of family medicine

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