Community Week - University of Ottawa

Community Week is a program directed towards first year medical students.  The goals of this program include an introduction to communities outside of the urban centres as practiced in Eastern Ontario.  Placements last for one week in duration. 

ERMEP plans the ‘Week’ by arranging preceptors, and finding accommodations for the students in a community outside of the urban sites.  Once an online application has been completed, ERMEP will review the students’ requests and start to contact the various communities to begin assigning students to preceptors. 

Each community offers a range of disciplines; some preceptors hold GP Offices, but share a variety of hospital duties including ER, OR, anesthesia, obstetrics, palliative care etc., and some preceptors strictly specialize in one discipline.  Some communities have the students rotating around to various offices and some communities choose to allow students to remain with one preceptor for the week.

Transportation to the community and back to the university are covered.  Meals and transportation within the community is not paid for. Accommodations could include B&B’s, billets, apartments, or college and hospital residents.  Billets we feel are an excellent way to learn about the community and to gather a feeling towards the community.

Students are required to dress upscale casual.  Clinical jackets and stethoscope are required as well.

It is requested the students attend the briefing session held in May before being placed in their communities.

Goals:

1. Community Week is to enhance the students’ education by providing an opportunity to experience rural medicine in its broadest scope.  To be exposed to a supervised learning environment on an individual basis where clinical skills, knowledge, and management skills can be developed as an individual rate.
2. To be exposed to medical practice in communities outside of the urban centres at a formative stage in their training.
3. To be exposed to life in the communities outside of the urban centres to allow them to explore whether this may provide a lifestyle and practice opportunity that would be suitable for their career.

It is hoped that at least some will then choose this practice type as a career for themselves but it is also recognized that all students will then have a better understanding of these communities and practices; a particularly useful insight for our academic and tertiary care colleagues.

Purpose:

Rural Week is a program to allow first year medical students one week exposure in a community setting outside of the urban centres.  We hope that the students experience is so rewarding and enjoyable that they will consider coming back for their third and fourth year rotations...and to eventually practice in these communities.

Registration:

You may register online by visiting our website, www.ermep.com.  Registration will take place January 1 to 30, 2010.  Early or late applications will not be accepted.

Briefing Session:

A short briefing session will be held with Dr. McLean and ERMEP Staff in May 2010 [Date to be determined].  This is when the students are given their Student Information Packages.  These packages will have the information of which community the students are going to and with which preceptor[s], with which classmates, guidelines of what needs to be done next, contact information, community information, etc.

Expenses:

Please keep all original receipts from any public transportation or accommodations.  These receipts will be required by ERMEP in order to reimburse students mileage and accommodations if the student paid upfront.  No gas receipts are required. You will have until June 2010 [Date to be determined] to submit your expense forms to ERMEP. After that date no claims will be accepted.

Student Information Packages:

Each student will receive a package.  It will contain information about preceptor, accommodation, and community. It will also contain an evaluation sheet and expense form.

ERMEP is responsible for the following:

• ERMEP have minimal funding.  The funding is to pay of accommodations and mileage.
• ERMEP will arrange placements for the students in various communities.  ERMEP will work to place the students according to their preferences of either a large, mid-size, or small community and any classmate preferences. ERMEP CANNOT guarantee the students requests.
• ERMEP will arrange accommodations.  ERMEP organizes accommodations which are at minimum cost. 
• ERMEP will prepare each student a package containing information about accommodations, preceptor contact information and community information, etc.
• ERMEP will prepare a student and preceptor evaluation summary which will be made available for the universities.

ERMEP is not responsible for the following:

• ERMEP is not responsible for organizing the students’ transportation to and from the community or within the community. 
• ERMEP will commit to suggesting how the students go to and from the community and are not responsible for providing transportation.
• ERMEP does not have funding for any meals while the student is in the community.