“Together as a university community.” This was the theme of a McGill-CISSS Outaouais (CISSSO) retreat in Gatineau, Quebec, held May 10 to advance the partnership in the region and build on the successes of McGill’s affiliated teaching site in the Outaouais.
McGill’s Assistant Dean in the Outaouais, Dr. Gilles Brousseau, together with Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) and Dean of Medicine Dr. David Eidelman, welcomed more than 60 clinician-teachers and health care administrators from Gatineau and Montreal for a day of exchange and workshops. Also present were Dr. Daniel Tardif, Deputy CEO of the CISSSO, and Laurence Barraud, Director of Education, University Relations and Research at the CISSSO.
“McGill is proud to partner with the CISSS Outaouais to offer medical training, a collaboration that dates back more than three decades with previous organizations,” said Dean Eidelman. “This region offers a very diverse and unique clinical exposure.”
Some 50 McGill students and residents in family medicine and other specialties train in the McGill-Outaouais program each year. Some are located at the Family Medicine Unit in Gatineau, while others in hospitals and centres throughout the region.
Several studies have shown that exposure to a clinical setting while in training is one of the best recruitment strategies for young physicians. Over the last decade, the strategy has paid off in Gatineau, resulting in an 80 to 90 percent retention rate of residents who complete their training there.
“One of the goals of medical education in the Outaouais is the retention of physicians following their training,” said Dean Eidelman. “I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Gatineau team for this success and thank everyone that has contributed to this achievement.”
Training future physicians as early and as long as possible in a given community is an even more decisive factor, an approach which also promotes skills retention in the training environment. It is with this in mind that in 2010, McGill also launched an integrated clerkship program in Gatineau to give an additional boost to health care capacity in the region.
“Decisions at the government and university levels have a direct impact on recruitment and retention of physicians in Quebec regions,” said Assistant Dean Dr. Brousseau.
The day-long retreat also addressed other topics, including challenges stemming from the adoption of Bills 10 and 20, the high quality teaching in the Outaouais and the accreditation priorities going forward, for both the Faculty and for the Gatineau site.
“The welcoming remarks by Drs. Tardif and Barraud, the opening address by Dean Eidelman, and the presentations by Drs. Brousseau, Mondou and Aalamian provided a wonderful momentum for the rich discussions that followed,” said Dr. Miriam Boillat, Associate Dean of Faculty Development and co-organizer of the retreat. “The retreat also included networking opportunities and concluded with visits to several clinical training settings. It gave everyone a renewed sense of being part of a common vision: to provide outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in the Outaouais, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of individuals, their families and their communities.”
May 27, 2016