Practicing Medicine in La Ronge by Dr. Sean Groves
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A great presentation by Dr. Sean Groves, a family physician working in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, Canada that shows work and family life in northern Saskatchewan.
Practicing Medicine in La Ronge by Dr. Sean Groves
- 1. Life in La Ronge Or...Why Rural General Practice is the most rewarding discipline in Medicine.
- 3. Why Rural? Personal Gains Professional Satisfaction Community Involvement Challenges
- 4. Personal Gains $$$ ??? Social and recreational opportunities Pace of life Rewarding environment Family oriented
- 7. Professional Satisfaction The last true generalist practice Varied practice environment: In La Ronge, this means emergency medicine, hospital based inpatient care, geriatrics/long term care, family medicine clinics, and weekly fly-out trips to our outposts Patients of various background, ethnicity and culture
- 9. Opportunity to Challenge Yourself Every Day Building clinical confidence and acumen Resource management and allocation Opportunity for extended scope of practice (GP Anaesthesia, GP Surgery, 3rd year Emergency Medicine)
- 10. Community Involvement Ample opportunity to be involved and make a difference Physicians are (often, but not always) respected decision makers in the community Can see the results of your suggestions! Role in community development Close knit atmosphere
- 12. Challenges in Rural Medicine Boundary issues: your patients are sometimes your friends Gaps in resources Professional isolation: Information Technology is playing a bigger and bigger role in solving this problem Huge demand with potential for burnout: balancing personal and professional commitments
- 16. Working in La Ronge A real group practice, working collaboratively every day and sharing practice experience and ideas 11 physicians Salaried position with many additional benefits Regular fly-out clinics (breaks up the week) Challenging practice environment Opportunity to be involved in training medical students and residents
- 17. A Day in the Life Group rounds at the hospital 8:30-9:30 am 10:00-12:00 Clinic 12:00-1:00 Lunch (at home! every day except flyout days once a week) 1:00-5:00 Clinic 5:00-5:30 Tying up loose ends at the clinic Fly-outs once per week leave at 9:00 am and back to La Ronge between 5:00 and 6:00 pm
- 21. Call On call in La Ronge: 11 physicians each with 30 working days of holiday and 15 working days of CME leave Call works out to about 1 in 8 with 1 weekend call every 4-5 weeks Most importantly: Backup - there's always someone with more experience than you just waiting to pick up the phone when you need help or advice
- 22. Working as a Salaried Physician Challenges: Autonomy is number one (not so much clinical, but more financial) Less motivation to take on expanded roles Contract is subject to budget renewal, funding agency agreements (luckily our salary is tied to the SMA's fee-for-service negotiations so when they negotiate a raise, we get one too) Little opportunity to write off your costs
- 23. Working as a Salaried Physician Added CME funding on top of SMA and CORRP's CME fund Actual sick time: 1.5 paid days per month, so no more working through the flu (and giving it to all your patients) Someone else runs the business (no hiring, no firing, no overhead, etc.) Guilt-free TIME WITH PATIENTS when you need it
- 24. Working as a Salaried Physician The Good: Guaranteed income (even if you had to spend 40 minutes with a difficult elderly diabetic with congestive heart failure, chronic renal failure, COPD, and an A1C of 9.8) Benefits package: employer paid pension plan, full health and dental coverage, salary continuance plan if you become disabled Paid (!!!) Holidays
- 29. What I love about Rural Medicine in La Ronge Getting to know community members on an intimate level Taking actual part in the community (coaching hockey, advocating for a fitness facility, community- based health education, Crushers Hockey : ) Tackling social issues alongside community members Time spent pursuing outdoor activities (especially on the lake) A town of young families with lots of kids
- 30. What I love about Rural Medicine in La Ronge Extremely challenging medicine at times Community-based physicians play a true role in HELPING MOTIVATE CHANGE to address the ongoing issues we see with health imbalances across demographic and geographic regions in Canada Get to meet and participate with people from varied cultures and grow both as an individual and as a professional Not a day goes by that I don't learn something new or feel challenged
- 31. So... Challenge your perceptions of rural medicine Build confidence in your clinical abilities Enjoy life and pursue a challenging career (at the same time!) Come and work in Rural Saskatchewan!
- 32. Questions?