Medical students use hospital as training ground

McMaster medical student Ashley Heaslip, left, and NHS dietitian Pat Forster discuss the dietary restrictions facing patients with chronic kidney disease.

As the prevalence of kidney disease continues to increase dramatically, so too does the need for students in medical school to learn about this chronic illness.

Patients with chronic kidney disease have complex dietary restrictions; too much sodium or protein can cause serious problems. Chronic kidney failure and dialysis bring on major lifestyle and personal challenges for patients and their families.

These are some of the many facts medical students took away with them recently when the McMaster University Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine Niagara Regional Campus held its first Kidney Fair at the Ontario Street Site of the Niagara Health System.

The Class of 2012 participated in a multidisciplinary health day that included NHS physicians, nurses, staff and patients, as well as Brock University nursing students. The medical students rotated through seven interactive stations related to
kidney disease.

“I am really enjoying the sessions,” says first-year medical student Ashley Heaslip, after a session with NHS dietitian Pat Forster. “Making the sessions interactive makes it easier to grasp the different concepts. It’s really helpful to have the different healthcare professionals providing information to us based on their specific roles and perspectives.”

This latest event is one of many McMaster medical students are participating in across the Niagara Health System.

The students participated for the first time this year in the Take CARE of Your Future (Career Awareness and Resource Exploration) March Break camp, which gives high school students serious about careers in healthcare a first-hand look at educational and work opportunities in Niagara. Students interact with healthcare professionals, participate in interactive presentations and workshops, and meet peers with similar interests and goals.

Positive feedback

McMaster medical students organized workshops for the week-long camp on suturing, surgical knot tying, doing medical assessments, and the academic steps to get into medical school.

“This year, our camp was tremendously enhanced by the enthusiasm of the McMaster medical students and the knowledge and skills they brought to the workshops they developed for this event,” says Nancy Dillon, NHS Volunteer Resources Coordinator and co-organizer of the event. “The positive feedback we received from the students as well as the NHS participants was overwhelming.”

There are currently 35 McMaster medical students – 20 in first year and 15 in second year – using all sites of Niagara Health as their training ground.

“The medical students love it here,” says Dr. Karl Stobbe, Regional Assistant Dean. “It’s a rich teaching environment. It’s real world and gives them a broad range of hands on, patient care experience.”

Training of medical students in Niagara provides the hospital with a valuable physician recruitment opportunity.

“The program gives the students a taste of working at Niagara Health, and we have a new opportunity to retain these new graduates every year directly from the program,” says NHS Chief Operating Officer Bala Kathiresan.

The Niagara campus is housed at the St. Catharines General Site and has full interconnectivity with classrooms and resources in Hamilton. Features are being incorporated in the new healthcare complex in St. Catharines, now under construction, for it to become a learning environment when it opens in 2013. While the campus will move to a new Brock University building in 2011, the new healthcare complex will house teaching spaces for medical students and residents, including classrooms, on-call rooms and student lounges.

Due to the regional nature of the campus, students and residents will continue to be educated at all NHS sites in 2013 and beyond. On-call rooms, classrooms, lockers and student lounges will be available at the Welland and Niagara Falls sites, and Fort Erie, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Port Colborne will each have a classroom.

“The Niagara campus is of benefit to hospital staff, medical colleagues and medical students,” says NHS President and CEO Debbie Sevenpifer. “Ultimately, though, it is the residents of Niagara who will benefit the most from the presence of the medical school in our community since the quality of healthcare increases when hospitals become teaching campuses.”

Although Ashley doesn’t have definitive plans about where she will practice
medicine after she graduates, she says the experience in Niagara has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I just love it,” says Ashley, who lives in British Columbia but whose family is originally from Niagara. “I chose to come to Niagara because of the opportunity to be in a smaller community with a smaller number of students. There is so much more
one-on-one attention and learning. Everyone has been so welcoming, in the hospital and in the community.”  «