Dr. Rob Halse of Ponoka is one of the many rural physicians providing valuable opportunities for medical students to see for themselves what rural medicine is all about. Besides providing weekend shadowing experiences, he is now also taking students enrolled in the U of C's Medicine 440 program and working as a mentor for students.  Medicine 440 is a program that provides students with 40 hours of shadowing experiences.  How did Halse find his way to a rural practice in Alberta and why is he so interested in bringing students to Ponoka?

Halse graduated from medical school in London, England and due to changes in the political/medical climate there, decided to come to Canada.  Once here, he took his exams and then practiced for two years in Newfoundland.  About 13 years ago, Halse was offered a job in Alberta and moved to Ponoka where he has practised ever since.

Apart from living in a small, friendly town, Halse loves practising the full gamut of medicine - delivering babies, working in Emergency, doing a bit of anaesthesia in the OR, and caring for the elderly in their homes or lodges or nursing homes.  He says this is what rural practice is all about.

Halse has taken medical students for rural experiences for many years, but now sees a new impetus to working with them. "There is an increased need for us to expose and hopefully attract medical students to rural practice early on in their careers," says Halse.  "Three or four years ago, Ponoka physicians helped to host a skills day for medical students.  About 50 first-year medical students spent the day here and, together with the nurses and paramedics, we showed them around and let them get their hands dirty doing stitching and casting.  I think that we all found that pretty stimulating and thought we could do more with medical students to help recruit more of them to rural practice in general and to Ponoka specifically."

Halse met medical student Sonja Hansen at the RPAP Calgary Recruitment Fair in September and has agreed to be a student mentor for the first time,.  "I'm just learning as I go along," says Halse. "So far we have emailed each other and I've asked what she thinks she needs to do by way of school work, electives, and shadowing.  She can talk to me about any particular aspect of her training or any problems she might have. In the days when I was in training, it was rare for someone to have a mentor.  Let's make it easier for these young people to know where to turn for the next major decision and give them a hand."