聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 With the arrival of new physicians in Sunrise Health Region, there are often questions about how the physician recruitment process works, said a release from the Sunrise Health Region on October 21.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Dr. Shamsher Singh and Dr. Catherina Meyer are the newest arrivals to the region, practicing in Preeceville.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪unrise Health Region is extremely pleased to have Dr. Meyer and Dr. Singh join our health region, providing services to the Preeceville area,鈥� said Suann Laurent, President and CEO.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淐ommunity involvement and engagement are important factors in attracting physicians to any community, and have had a positive impact in Preeceville. There is also a great deal of recruitment work directly with physicians that occurs by the region and across the health care system.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Each of the new physicians took part in different recruitment experiences in their journey to practice in Preeceville.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Dr. Shamsher Singh arrived to commence practice in Preeceville on October 11. Dr. Singh was first contacted by Sunrise Health Region鈥檚 Regional Manager of Medical Services in March about the primary health care opportunity available in Preeceville. Dr. Singh immediately expressed interest in the opportunity. As Dr. Singh was practicing outside the country at the time, he completed his initial interview with the region and the paperwork was started.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Once the initial process is started by the region, confirmation must be received from the College of Physicians and Surgeons for a pre-licensure eligibility review, the release explained. After that process is complete, physicians are accepted into the Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment, known as SIPPA.
SIPPA is a unique, made-in-Saskatchewan program that assesses international medical graduates on their education and clinical ability before allowing them to practice medicine. Since the program began in 2011, more than 190 new family physicians have completed the assessment and are currently practicing in the province.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Dr. Singh began his initial SIPPA exams and assessments in May followed by the required 12-week field assessment in another region, it said. After the exams and field assessment were completed, the health region was delighted to receive confirmation on October 6 that Dr. Singh was registered and licensed to commence practice in Preeceville.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t鈥檚 always such a joy to assist new physicians through the journey to practicing medicine in our province,鈥� said Connie Patrick, Regional Manager of Medical Services with Sunrise Health Region. 鈥淢any have said that if they didn鈥檛 have the continual advice and guidance, with step-by-step instruction to manoeuvre through the process, they would have given up entirely.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Dr. Catharina Meyer arrived to commence practice in Preeceville on October 3. A family member of Dr. Meyer, who lives in Preeceville, had approached Dr. Phillip Fourie, Vice-President of Medical Services and Senior Medical Officer for Sunrise Health Region. Dr. Meyer had visited the area and had an interest in relocating to Preeceville.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 was introduced to Dr. Meyer quite by coincidence,鈥� said Dr. Fourie. 鈥淚t proves that physician recruitment can truly occur in a variety of ways.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Dr. Meyer was working in another health region in the province at the time of initial contact, and the two health regions worked collaboratively to ensure a replacement was found for Dr. Meyer before she relocated.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽鈥淪unrise Health Region looks forward to continuing our collaborative work with the entire Preeceville health care team and community to provide stable health care services to the community of Preeceville and surrounding areas,鈥� Laurent said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Consultations to develop a plan for emergency services are occurring and will be announced in the next few weeks, the release said. Both Dr. Singh and Dr. Meyer are located in the Preeceville Primary Health Care Clinic and are now accepting appointments.聽
