An event to showcase medical facilities and the Olds community may have already paid off, because one medical student is seriously considering locating here when he completes his training.
Arth Pahwa, originally from Edson, is one of 54 students from the University of Alberta and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology who participated in a medical skills event at the Olds Hospital and Care Centre last month.
He is currently in his first year of medicine. He anticipates being ready to practise his profession in about five years.
Participants included medical students, those studying to become emergency medical technicians and those studying in other health-care fields.
The Oct. 14-16 event was the result of a partnership between the Olds Institute (OI), Olds Hospital and Care Centre and the Alberta Rural Physician Action Plan.
Since that weekend, Pahwa has been thinking seriously of the opportunities practising in Olds might provide for him.
He says because he grew up in a rural community (Edson), “I feel it is easier to relate to people that work in industrial and agricultural backgrounds.”
“I have friends that come from Olds, and it would be easier to transition into a community (where) I already know people,” he adds.
During the weekend, not only did Pahwa and his cohorts practise their skills in the hospital, they also toured the community.
“I think that Olds offers more than other rural communities in terms of its commitment to parks, and recreational opportunities for children,” he says.
“There is quite a nice recreation complex, and there (are) also many facilities that are catered to sports.
“This is very important to me as someone who enjoys athletics and coaching athletics,” he adds, listing basketball and soccer as his favourite sports.
The fact that Olds College is in the community is another attraction.
“I really like the presence of the Olds college, which would allow me to take interesting courses in my spare time even as a physician,” Pahwa says.
“It raises the possibility of becoming a rural clinician scientist, which is something that is a prospect I wish to explore in medicine for future practice.”
He also likes the fact that Olds is relatively close to Calgary, because he likes to travel and would like to visit family abroad.
Pahwa found the health-care professionals he dealt with during the weekend to be “very pleasant.”
He notes there is a residency training program just up the road in Red Deer. He says that provides “opportunities to start making professional relationships in the community throughout residency.”
He also likes the medical facilities here.
“Clinic facilities in Olds are also able to house diverse practices in the medical and surgical specialties,” Pahwa says.
“I think that is something that is very important to consider in choosing residency and a place for future practice because there are many specialists that can work out of Olds,” he says.
Overall, Pahwa says, “I think that the community is quite an attractive place to settle down.”
Olds Institute executive director Mitch Thomson is pleased that Pahwa is looking very seriously at conducting his practice in Olds, once his training is complete.
“This is the exact reason that we host these events,” Thomson says. “It's to let others know what great assets, what wonderful people and what great opportunities exist in our community.”
He says in early November in Red Deer, OI officials gave another presentation on what Olds has to offer to students from northern Alberta in their second year of study in rural medicine.
He's hopeful that presentation may persuade some of them to locate here as well.
"I think that Olds offers more than other rural communities in terms of its commitment to parks, and recreational opportunities for children."ARTH PAHWAMEDICAL STUDENT
