Resident physicians eager to give back to promote rural practice

Two University of Calgary resident physicians jumped at the chance to give back to a community that supported their medical learning during a recent RHPAP Let’s Go Rural! High School Skills Event.

Drs. Samantha and Thomas Kazakoff joined other Taber healthcare volunteers to share insight with high school students considering a future medical career.

The Kazakoffs, who met the first week of medical school and tied the knot last summer, hope to eventually settle in the Southern Alberta community after spending much of their training there.

The couple—who are completing their residencies in nearby Lethbridge—were keen to help when a volunteer call out was made to support the Let’s Go Rural! event.

“When the event came up, it felt like a good way to give back to a community that had given us so much when we were younger and in earlier stages of training,” says Thomas. “It just kind of felt like the right thing to do.”

Samantha agrees.

“That was a really fun day getting to go back out to Taber and say ‘hi’ to everybody … and to work with this passionate student group.”

Thomas hails from Lethbridge, but Samantha—who grew up in Yellowknife—had never heard of Taber before her first medical learning posting in the town.

“I’m very grateful that they placed me in Taber because it ended up being such a good fit,” she says.

“I spent eight months out there, and then I did two months of residency in Taber,” Samantha recalls, noting Thomas did the same rotation.

During that time, Thomas says, “we really honed in on why we really like, and are going to practise rural medicine. [We] like the people, the variety, and the chance to work with such an amazing community.”

After their clerkship ended, the couple stayed in touch with medical colleagues and other community members.

The Kazakoffs were overwhelmed by how they were welcomed by the entire community along the way.

“They will go above and beyond,” says Thomas. “For us, it was frankly crucial for how we were planning our life to find, ideally, a community that kind of checked all our boxes.”

“Now, that’s what I tell students and … prospective people going in, I say, ‘you really have to make the most of it, because if you do, the community will pay you back tenfold.’”

The Kazakoffs say that the supportive community also extends to RHPAP. The couple stayed in many RHPAP accommodations throughout their rural postings, and they value its commitment to rural healthcare.

“For RHPAP to not only cover and pay for the housing, but to find the place in the first instance, that’s an enormous boon for rural medicine students,” says Samantha.

They also connected with RHPAP to promote rural medicine through their work with the U of C’s Family Medicine/Rural Medicine Interest Group.

The couple is committed to paying it forward and fostering positive experiences for their patients, something that didn’t happen to Thomas as a young adult after a medical emergency.

“When I left, I was like, ‘man, that was not helpful at all. I really didn’t like that.’”

It became a catalyst for Thomas to pursue medicine and do better.

“Now I get to have those experiences with patients, and I hope they feel like they are listened to and heard, and that I’m helping them make a positive difference.”