Erin Zader
Community: La Glace, Alberta
Medical school: University of Calgary
A Northern Alberta medical student visualizes herself practising in a rural or remote community that faces limited resources following her training.
Erin Zader, who grew up in the hamlet of La Grace, Alberta, northwest of Grande Prairie, is one of several medical students who were recently selected to receive the annual RhPAP Rural Medical School Award. The award provides a one-time contribution of $5,000 to assist with the student’s tuition, accommodation, living, and/or professional development expenses.
“I…intend to learn how to practise in a setting where there is only one physician and a small team of allied healthcare workers managing an emergency room or clinic,” says the 22-year-old University of Calgary first year student in her application for the award.
She also hopes to expand upon her medical degree with additional training in emergency medicine, anesthesia, low-risk obstetrics and addition medicine.
Before establishing a family medicine practice, Zader hopes to work as a locum (filling in for other physicians) in Northern Alberta or other rural communities “to gain a better understanding of the different practices/strategies used in each location.”
Zader says experiencing gaps in healthcare in her home community led her down the path to a career in medicine.
“I understand, very personally, the barrier to care that rural patients face, especially specialists,” she says, noting she sought help from an Edmonton-based podiatrist who travelled to Grande Prairie monthly to see patients.
Without that option, her parents would have faced a five-hour trip to Edmonton rather than a 40-minute drive to Grande Prairie to access care for their daughter.
Zader has a particular interest in research and plans to study more about “what gaps exist in patient health literacy that impair patient decision-making within a patient/physician interaction,” she writes.
“I…will take the findings of this research into my practice when I become a physician so that I can take a patient-centred approach that fosters patient education about healthcare and their specific role within it.”
Check out the 2025 RhPAP Medical School Award recipients here.