2 weeks Ago By By Michele McDougall
Brandon University is a standout when it comes to educating doctors-to-be, says Dr. Aaron Jattan, a family physician and acting chief medical officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
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Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Brandon University is a standout when it comes to educating doctors-to-be, says Dr. Aaron Jattan, a family physician and acting chief medical officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. But, he adds, there is a gap in finding local, experienced doctors who are willing to take new doctors under their wing.
It was a rejection that Jattan said he experienced firsthand as a graduate of the Brandon satellite program for the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine in 2017. Dr. Aaron Jattan (standing, far left) is seen in a photo taken in Brandon in 2015, when he was starting his residency in the Brandon satellite program for the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine.
Now a family physician and acting chief medical officer for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Jattan is advocating for more resident training in rural Manitoba. Beside Jattan is Stephen Smith, Peter Benoit and Colin Yardley. Front row (from left): Kelby Treloar, Kristen Wareham and Darrin Nichol.
(UM News website) Jattan is advocating for more resident training in rural Manitoba, which will help fix the doctor shortage in areas where they are needed most. “I had made up my mind at the end of my residency that I wanted to maintain a footprint in Brandon and the surrounding area. Within months of moving to Brandon I fell in love with the city, the community and made friends for life,” said Jattan.
“I was nearing the end, wanted to start setting myself up and met with leadership at the time and was told, essentially, ‘We’re full, best of luck to you,’ and that was it. It was just a jarring message to hear, ‘We don’t need you, we’re good.’” So, Jattan spent the “first three odd years” of his practice in Steinbach.
Today, Jattan is the associate program director for the family medicine program at the University of Manitoba, a family physician and hospitalist at St. Boniface Hospital, as well as acting regional lead for clinical services with Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Jattan said he holds no ill will toward Brandon, adding he thinks it is one of the best rural training sites in the country and should be used as a model for success.
He may not have found a place to practise in the Wheat City, but Jattan wants to make sure that doesn’t happen to others. “I think Brandon is ahead of the game in terms of training rural educators,” said Jattan. “They’ve delivered their program to make sure that the docs who are graduating and going to be working within the Brandon area understand that they’re going to be teachers, and that they’re also responsible for inspiring the next generation of rural family doctors.
” There are also residents training in family medicine in Neepawa as well as Dauphin, which Jattan said is the oldest and longest-standing rural family medicine program in the country. But training programs need to be structured to teach medical students and residents how to be teachers, he added. “We need to incentivize teaching and build it into the system as an expectation,” Jattan said.
“Currently, it’s done off the interest and the goodwill of physicians. But if you’re feeling that pressure to see as many patients as possible, you’re not likely going to have the time to do that teaching and mentoring that’s needed to sustain that rural pathway. “So, if there’s a doc who’s worried about resources, as in ‘how am I going to do this,’ we have the tools, we have the time to actually show you what you need and what fun you can have inspiring the next generation.
That’s the best part of my job.” Jattan will be in Brandon at the Victoria Inn on Monday from 7 to 9 p.m.
for a free presentation of a podcast called, “What’s the Big Idea?” It is a regular series that is hosted by University of Manitoba president Michael Benarroch and features conversations with “big thinkers from the UM community, exploring the big idea behind their work and its impact on Manitoba, Canada, and the world,” according to U of M’s website. The title of the upcoming episode is “The Future of Rural Healthcare in Manitoba.” Alongside Jattan will be Dr.
Peter Nickerson, dean and vice-provost in health sciences at U of M, a transplant nephrologist at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg and a medical consultant to Shared Health’s Transplant Immunology Laboratory. Currently, there are 10 family medicine residents in their third and fourth years working in Brandon, training in various specialties including family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, clinical psychology and midwifery. But there is a commitment to bring the first two years of medical training to the Wheat City, and to expand the program, said Nickerson.
“So, right now you’ve just had them for a couple of years in family medicine. But if you’ve had them for four years out in Brandon — working as medical students now, working as residents — the longer you’re in a community, the more likely you’re going to stay,” he said. While there are no timelines for expanding the medical training to a full four years in Brandon, BU president David Docherty told the Sun in January that it has been a decade-long dream.
There are many stages to future expansion at BU, including renovating the 50-year-old Brodie Science Centre, but no plans have been released. Nickerson said he is committed to bringing the first two years of medical school to Brandon, because of the past successes and current expansion of the Brandon Regional Health Centre that will offer more training space. Community engagement is important, he added, as is buy-in from practising physicians to become part of medical education.
“Physicians are obviously committed to providing patient care but giving back to the next generation and being part of that, it keeps their jobs alive, keeps stimulating them, and keeps them current. “That’s the hook,” said Nickerson. » mmcdougall@brandonsun.
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