As we are all aware, COVID-19 has changed the way we all practice and will have to work going forward. All of our medical students were pulled from their clinical rotations and in-person teaching sessions in March.
I wanted to congratulate the students for being so flexible and helpful during this unprecedented time. They were all quick to volunteer their time and were, and continue to be, very helpful to physicians and health care facilities in many different capacities.
The first- and second-year medical students finished their year online so we want to thank all the educators that shifted this learning and were able to help the students meet their objectives for the year. The fourth-year students had their electives cancelled but will be starting their residency, as planned, in July. The third-year clerks are back in their rotations as of May 25, and we want to thank the communities that have stepped up to the plate to continue to teach during this time of uncertainty. Your commitment to educating our students is so very appreciated.
There will be some overlap with the clerks coming up in the fall, when the new class starts their rotations, but the department is already planning for this and our rural teaching sites are preparing for this as well. A special thanks to Drs. Catherine Wach and Don Klassen for ensuring clerk placements, and to Jana Mudra for all her help facilitating this.
In other news, we are developing more core content for orientation week prior to the clerks starting their family medicine rotation. We will update everyone when this is finalized but are looking forward to teaching a number of new topics going forward.
We would also like to congratulate Taylor Rusnak for being the recipient of the Paul Nehra Convocation Prize in Family Medicine. Through gifts received from Dr. Paul Nehra, the Manitoba Medical College Foundation (MMCF) has established the MMCF – Paul Nehra Convocation Prize in Family Medicine at The Winnipeg Foundation. The fund is used to provide a prize to a student who has demonstrated excellence in his or her performance during the Family Medicine/Community Medicine Clerkship rotation and who has been accepted to post-graduate resident training in Family Medicine. Congratulations Taylor!