Community recruiters connect with first year medical students

Debbie Inman has been a Human Resources Manager for the NorWest Community Health Centres for the past 34 years. Recruiting for the communities of Longlac, Thunder Bay, Armstrong and Kakabeka, Debbie says it has become harder to recruit physicians to rural towns.  

Longlac, with a population of 1,316 people, requires one full-time physician and one nurse practitioner. They have been without a physician since June 2024, when their physician of 10 years moved to a larger urban centre.    

While Longlac has locum physician support, it is insufficient to cover all the health care needs of the town.  

To encourage medical students to consider practising in smaller communities, NOSM University held community recruiter sessions during Orientation Week earlier this fall. These sessions provided an opportunity for first-year students to engage with recruiters from rural areas.  

Jullieta Lum, Project Manager in the Office of Physician Workforce Strategy, said she hopes first-year medical students will gain knowledge about communities across the region early on in their schooling, so they can have a broader idea of the opportunities for practice across the North.  

As a single physician practice, Longlac is unable to take medical students in the community, however Debbie says it is valuable for students to engage with communities early in their studies. She spoke with students about the community health centre practice model in Longlac and Thunder Bay, providing them with information about the community and the life of a rural practice physician. As students progress through the MD program and make decisions about their practice, they are better informed about opportunities in a smaller community. 

Abbigail Brennan also recruits for communities in the north. She says physicians who want to work in the north should have a passion for recreational, outdoor activities. Many rural communities don’t have as many amenities as larger cities, so it can be challenging for those not used to rural living. 

Abbigail recruits for Black River-Matheson, Iroquois Falls and Cochrane. She also met with students at NOSM University, including two students, one from Cochrane, and one from Matheson. “Coming to more of the rural communities with smaller population sizes, less services, it’s a different type of practice. It’s also a beautiful way to practice and it’s a beautiful lifestyle,” she says.  

“Exposing students to these opportunities early in their education helps establish the possibility of pursuing such paths as a tangible option for their future, shaping their perspective as they progress through their studies,” Abbigail said.