New building ‘crucial’ to residency program
Dr. Thomas Ritchie said a new facility built in Kentville to support participants in the
Annapolis Dalhousie University Valley Family Medicine Residency Training Program is like a home for them.
In addition to providing space for learning, the new facility on the Valley Regional Hospital grounds also gives residents a place to stay, sleep, or prepare meals while doing
hospital. overnight shifts at the
Ritchie said that since the facility is just a stone’s throw away from the Kentville
residents hospital, family medicine can get where they need to be promptly to help with patient care. He said the location is wonderful with respect to that.
“I think that (having) the place of our own where we’re able to study, where we’re able to learn and where we’re able to stay while we’re
absolutely working at the hospital is crucial to helping to grow the program and helping to attract residents to the program,” Ritchie said.
He appreciates that it’s taken a lot of effort on the
part of many organizations to make the new $1.47 million facility a reality, but he thinks “it’s an investment that won’t go to waste.”
Dr. Luke MacMillan said the new training facility in town is a great spot for them. It provides flexibility in terms of scheduling for lectures, giving them a dedicated space. The residents used to have to co-ordinate with other hospital stakeholders to find a meeting room there.
MacMillan said he typically wouldn’t be sleeping at the facility since he lives so close by, but he appreciates that the
building takes a lot of stress off other residents who have to travel from further away. Otherwise, they would have to find accommodations close to the hospital while on call.
“It is a great space for us to come together and mingle with the other residents in the program and get to know one another and get to be friendly with our future colleagues,” MacMillan said.
established The new facility was through a partnership involving the Department of Health and Wellness, Dalhousie Family Medicine and the Nova Scotia Health Authority.