More than 30 years of family practice made him aware of the fact that many people who have medical needs also have unaddressed emotional needs, so Dr. Martin Reedyk of Three Hills decided to follow his interest in mental health and to pursue RPAP Enrichment training.

"My practice has been largely surgery over the years," says Reedyk, "and I found that I could impact patients' medical needs by taking time to address their emotional needs. It was in that process that I also discovered that I had an aptitude for and liked this type of work. Although I'd done a lot of reading and taken courses over the years, I felt I wanted more intensive training."

In 2001, Reedyk applied for and completed a month of RPAP-funded Enrichment training in Red Deer. "I basically moved onto the hospital ward there, worked with the psychiatrists and was involved in the full range of psychiatric care: inpatient, outpatient, and intensive day programming involving group therapy and personal therapy," continues Reedyk.

Now he devotes about half his practice to mental health and finds it is a growing area of practice. Only about 20 family practitioners across Alberta devote some part of their practice to mental health.  Reedyk is a U of A grad who moved  to Nigeria for eight years following graduation. There he had a mixed practice that was largely surgery. Upon his return to Canada, he practiced surgery and family medicine in High Level for 11 years and has had a similar practice in Three Hills for the past 15 years.

'I think this enrichment program is a great opportunity to develop interests. Rural family medicine is very viable when a group of five or six physicians have complementary interests and can offer a broad range of expertise. Everybody wins. It improves your satisfaction in the work you do and improves service to the community. It also increases the likelihood of your putting down roots and staying in the rural area."

And while Reedyk moved away from Nigeria more than 25 years ago, he hasn't forgotten the people there and the desperate needs they have. Every year he organizes two medical teams who travel back to the large hospital where he used to work to do teaching, surgery and clinical work. Closer to home, Reedyk, his wife Ann, their three daughters and their families all have an interest in hiking, bird watching and protecting bird habitat.