The College of Physicians and Surgeons will be visiting the Crowsnest Pass area Oct. 2, to engage the local medical community at an invite-only dinner in Blairmore.
“It’s important for The College to come and meet with practicing physicians,” says Dr, Peter McKernan, M.D. and Chief of Staff for the Crowsnest Pass Hospital.
The experience gives the leaders of the College of Physicians and Surgeons a chance to see the state of medicine from the front lines, according to McKernan.
The CPSA regulates the practice of medicine in Alberta and consists of physicians, members of the public and representatives from Alberta’s medical schools, according to the CPSA website.
The dinner and meeting will centre on discussion about standards of practice, physician prescribing, long-term care and new regulations governing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, according to the CPSA website.
In addition, the dinner will give local physicians a chance to meet and put faces to names of leaders in the CPSA and build relationships between the groups of people, says Dr. McKernan.
The experience is important to enhance frontline service for the Crownest Pass medical community that is already exceedingly well established, notes Dr. McKernan.
“The reason we can keep recruiting is because we are a strong teaching centre for residents and students,” he says
A fact confirmed and underlined by Crowsnest Pass mayor Bruce Decoux during the Sept. 3 municipal hall meeting.
“I sit with many other mayors who have trouble keeping one doctor, we have eight or nine,” said Decoux.
A strong medical community is a local quality Dr. McKernan says is important to keep up.
“We want a model so the young physicians come and work here rurally,” he says.
“We need to keep training young physicians in our community,” says Dr. McKernan.
It is important to show these young medical practitioners a rural medical lifestyle is interesting, sustainable and gives a physician a balanced career, according to Dr. McKernan.
A balanced life is not hard to achieve for members of the medical community in the Crowsnest Pass area, according to Dr. McKernan.
“The last five physicians recruited have either been trainees here or are married to someone who has received training here,” he says.
“Towns that don’t train, have a hard time recruiting,” according to Dr. McKernan.
The meetings and interaction between local practitioners and the CPSA will continue to enhance front line service and also enhance communication between each group, he says.
