Doctor brings added obstetrical support to Olds area

Bring on the babies — Dr. Foose Onsongo is ready.

The Olds physician recently completed six months of Enhanced Skills Obstetrical Surgical Skills training with support from RHPAP’s Physician Skills Enrichment Grant (PSEG) Program.  

Dr. Onsongo is confident she is up to the task after performing nearly 200 C-sections during her time at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Surrey.

“There were a lot of (C) sections that happened,” chuckles Dr. Onsongo.

It was a dream come true for the rural physician who helped deliver her first baby in South Africa as a young medical student. Dr. Onsongo always wanted to pursue advanced obstetrical training, but over the years life kept getting in the way.

A spot finally opened up in the program early this year and Dr. Onsongo jumped at the chance to learn advanced obstetrical procedures including added competency in surgical obstetrics, assisted vaginal deliveries, third and fourth vaginal lacerations, management of postpartum hemorrhages, and dilation and curettage for miscarriages. Women with high-risk pregnancies will continue to be referred to specialists in Red Deer or Calgary.

Dr. Onsongo is now one of four physicians in the Olds-based Peaks to Prairies Obstetrics Care Team who provide enhanced obstetrical care (soon decreasing to three as one doctor steps back). She shares on-call duties with the other trained physicians and supports the broader obstetrical team who will “consult me if they are worried about how the labour is progressing and I’ll give an opinion, ‘try this, try that, or you know we just go for a (C) section.’”

She says it is important communities offer these obstetrical programs in rural Alberta, so patients and families don’t have to travel far from home for low-risk deliveries and other procedures. The Peaks to Prairies team currently provides the services to women in Olds, Cremona, Carstairs, Sundre, Three Hills, and even Red Deer.

Many rural hospitals, including Sundre and Three Hills, have closed their low-risk obstetrical programs due to a lack of physicians with enhanced obstetrical training.

The Olds program itself was in jeopardy before Dr. Onsongo was able to take the training as two physicians alone couldn’t adequately sustain 24/7 on-call services.  

“It’s a lot of responsibility, you have to have your phone on you, and you have to be able to go at any minute to assist a delivery or do a (C) section.”

Dr. Onsongo admits the training program was tough to tackle later on in her career while living in a province away from her young family, but it was well worth it.

“There were definitely no regrets…The training is rigorous. It’s long hours. But as my dad always used to say, nothing good comes easy.”

During training in BC, Dr. Onsongo’s pay was reduced to that of a medical resident so the RHPAP funding helped bridge the gap with living expenses in Olds and her temporary BC living arrangements.

She recommends rural physicians interested in furthering their training consider RHPAP’s PSEG.

“If people have an interest, there are a lot of good programs out there like the Obstetrical Surgical Skills, Enhanced Surgical Skills, Family Practice Anesthesia, and Emergency Medicine residency programs.”

More information on RHPAP’s PSEG program is available here.

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