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Overview

Rural Alberta North is a unit of the Family Medicine residency program of the University of Alberta. Rural Alberta North and its sister unit, Rural Alberta South, make up the Alberta Rural Family Medicine Network (ARFMN).

The best setting for training rural family physicians is rural family practice, so of the 10-16 residents accepted into the program each year, a minimum of 5 each to Red Deer (currently 10 residents) and to Grande Prairie (currently 6), are trained in and exposed to a wide variety of rural medicine. In addition to rotations in our core rural sites, we encourage residents to explore additional opportunities in smaller rural practices and remote locations.

Rural physicians also need to develop competencies in hospital medicine and acquire a wide variety of procedural skills. Specialty rotations in the regional cities of Grande Prairie and Red Deer facilitate this process. Reflecting the needs of rural practice, the program includes an anaesthesia rotation to provide the resident with advanced airway management skills and an orthopaedic rotation to develop confidence in management of common musculoskeletal trauma.

All rotations are preceptor-based, with the RAN resident usually the only learner. This allows an individualized teaching program and great access to clinical experience. With plenty of elective time, the resident is able to tailor the program to meet his or her needs.

Monthly academic days in the Regional centres, together with a regular schedule of weekly rounds, provide academic programming. In addition, regular one- and two-day workshops allow the delivery of further academic content and provide peer support for our residents. Completion of life support courses including ACLS, ATLS, NRP, PALS and ALARM are supported by the program.

Residents have extensive information technology support. Laptop computers ensure access to key medical databases at all our teaching sites. The program web site and Exchange Server allows delivery of academic programming and provides residents and faculty with opportunities for networking.

Experienced rural faculty and co-directors in Grande Prairie and Red Deer, assisted by the rural director support residents. The co-directors and rural director report to the residency program director at the Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, maintaining close links with urban faculty.

Choosing a Regional Base:

Although residents choose Grande Prairie or Red Deer for their home base, RAN functions as a coordinated program, with shared administration and workshops. Residents from either site have access to the full range of rural communities across Central and Northern Alberta. Accommodation at rural sites is provided, and travel costs reimbursed.

The following profiles and this virtual tour may help you choose your regional base:

Red Deer This community of 87,816 lies within the booming Edmonton – Calgary corridor, 150km from both cities. The 300-bed David Thompson Regional Hospital has a full complement of specialists providing care to the roughly 200,000 residents of the region. Family physicians continue to have a key role within the hospital and act as the attending physician for half of all admissions. The city has a thriving recreational base (hockey players will be immediately recruited onto the doctors’ team), together with a complete range of cultural and educational activities.

Grande Prairie Grande Prairie, with a population of about 52, 000, is the economic hub of the Peace Country of northwestern Alberta and northern British Columbia. Situated 450km from Edmonton, the city is also the gateway to the North Country and the Alaska Highway. The area has a very strong natural resource base, both in forestry and oil and gas production, together with its traditional reliance on agriculture. With such a recent population boom, this is a young city with great recreational and educational facilities. Travel is easy with regular scheduled air services to Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

Medically, the Queen Elizabeth ll hospital provides specialty medical services for a catchment area of 200,000. There is a full complement of specialists and diagnostic facilities without the fragmentation of multiple subspecialty departments. Grande Prairie family physicians are vital to the hospital as they provide full emergency room coverage and act as the attending physicians for most admissions, using specialists in a traditional consulting role. True collegiality is on view every day in the physicians’ lounge, where the medical staff gathers each morning.