April 26, 2007

Media Release

Headwaters Health Care Centre and 

Greater Dufferin Area Physician Search Committee

Headwaters’ Obstetricians Receive Undergraduate Preceptor Award

Training medical students is a key part of our community’s physician recruitment strategy

Orangeville – Last night, at the Rural Ontario Medical Program’s (ROMP) Annual Dinner in Collingwood ON , Dr. Jude Umeh, Dr. Sukhamay Chatterjee and Dr. Pratibha Vasudeva received the Undergraduate Preceptor Award for their supervision and instruction of medical students.

Each year, ROMP selects physician preceptors and educational coordinators to honour for their outstanding support of the program and their unparalleled efforts. ROMP, founded in 1988, provides medical education and physician recruitment support to over 65 south central Ontario communities that are under-serviced for physicians.

“The Physician Search Committee would also like to recognize Headwaters Health Care Centre’s obstetricians,” says Louise Kindree, Chair of the Greater Dufferin Area Physician Search Committee. “The physicians at Headwaters and in the community are providing medical students with an outstanding learning opportunity. We hope that a positive experience in our community will convince young physicians to return to the Headwaters area to set up their practices.”

Physicians at Headwaters and in the community are actively participating in the recruitment of future doctors for our community. 2005-2006 was a busy year for medical placements. Headwaters had 53 placements for medical students, clinical clerks (third and fourth year medical students) and residents (graduate physicians). Each student was assigned a physician preceptor. The number of physicians acting as preceptors has doubled in the past year – we now have 57.

The Greater Dufferin Area Physician Search Committee is a volunteer organization that is working hard to recruit physicians to our community. The province’s under-serviced area program has designated our catchment area as still being under serviced by 13 family physicians.

ROMP hosted its 7^th Annual Spring Workshop in Collingwood from April 24^th to 26^th. This year attending from the Greater Dufferin Area Physician Search Committee are Louise Kindree, Dr. David Scott and Cathy Wilson.  For more information about medical education and physician recruitment efforts in  Dufferin County , contact Louise Kindree, Chair of the Physician Search Committee via Judy Proctor at PO Box 211 , Orangeville , ON   L9W 2Z6 or by phone at 519-941-6991 x 2002.

If a local resident needs a family physician, they should complete a “patient application form”. The application form is posted on the hospital (www.headwatershealth.ca) website and is available at the Information Desk in the Main Lobby. Over 8,000 individuals have been placed with a family physician since the registry was created in 2004.

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