Congratulations to Breanne Gordulic, recipient of a 2022 RhPAP Rural Healthcare Student Award.
Breanne’s interest in rural medicine began when she moved from Edmonton to Wheatland County, close to her and her husband’s rural roots.
When she describes her rural lifestyle Breanne says, “My husband grew up here, and it is now my home too. I am committed to living in this area, and I make the commute to the Foothills Medical Centre for classes.”
Breanne describes her Family Medicine clinical experience as eye opening.
“I worked in Blairmore with Dr. Kristy Penner. This involved one day in the ER and two days at her family practice. While I already knew I wanted to practice rural medicine, one of the days we provided a home visit to some patients. This was something I didn’t recognize could be done these days and really solidified my love of providing care to people who, for many possible reasons, are not getting to a clinic environment.
This is what I imagine real medicine to look like – providing the best care by meeting a patient where they are at…”
When discussing her future plans, Breanne has exciting goals in front of her.
“My short-term career plans after residency are to find employment in my community as either a locum or at an established practice. There are two emergency rooms in my vicinity that are potential spots for employment; Strathmore and Vulcan. There are also several medical clinics in Strathmore, Siksika Nation, Arrowwood, and even Langdon. Strathmore recently opened up a diagnostics clinic that provides ultrasound services so that may be an option too.”
“Long term, depending on the specialty I complete residency in, I would like to either open up my own clinic for family medicine, or establish a way to practise at multiple towns by setting up clinic days at different practices if I sub-specialize. If I choose family medicine, I will advocate to bring specialists to my clinic for certain days of the month so patients can have their consults without driving to Calgary.”
Once again, RhPAP congratulates Breanne Gordulic on receiving a 2022 RhPAP Rural Healthcare Student Award.