Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) was set to host 19 first-year medical students from Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry (London and Windsor Campus) for Discovery Week 2023.
Hospital officials say Discovery Week provides a unique learning opportunity by placing first year medical students in rural and regional healthcare settings.
During Discovery Week 2023, more than 170 Schulich Medicine students were set be placed in 29 participating communities.
This year marks a milestone for Schulich as it’s the 25th year of Discovery Week.
“We are so pleased to welcome first-year medical students to CKHA for Discovery Week,” said Lori Marshall, President and CEO, CKHA, in a media release.
“This unique learning opportunity provides positive exposure to rural hospitals like CKHA and immerses students in various healthcare settings in our community. We also hope these students will enjoy becoming temporary members of our community for a week while they experience all that Chatham-Kent has to offer.”
Discovery Week originally started as part of a strategy to attract doctors to set up practice in rural and regional locations.
Research shows that students begin making career decisions early in their medical school careers.
Discovery Week is designed to expose students to practicing medicine outside of large urban areas before they make firm plans for their careers.
“CKHA is delighted to welcome students once again on site for Discovery Week. This initiative is a great opportunity to showcase our community to future physicians and has brought back many of the participating medical students to Chatham-Kent to complete electives during their third and fourth year of medical school,” said Dr. Pervez Faruqi, Chief of Staff, CKHA, in a media release.
“Many of our physicians have joined the preceptor ranks at Schulich School of Medicine. We can’t thank these physicians enough for dedicating their time to sharing their expertise with these students.”
Students were set to have the opportunity to shadow family physicians, specialists, nurse practitioners and allied healthcare professionals in many areas of Chatham-Kent to determine what a typical workday entails.
In addition to the clinical education component of the week, students will be participating in social events each evening to experience firsthand some of the many amenities offered in Chatham-Kent.
Discovery Week took place this past week, May 23 to May 26, 2023.
