We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Peter Koegler as the new Co-Director for Rural Alberta South (RAS) Lethbridge. Effective 1 June 2015, Dr. Koegler takes over from Dr. Rick Buck, who has taken an academic position as Rural Program Director with the Family Medicine Department.
Peter will serve as the Co-Director for the Alberta Rural Family Medicine Network’s RAS Lethbridge node. Peter is a graduate of the University of Alberta and a Certificant of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, University of Calgary and maintains a practice in Lethbridge. Previously Peter served as the second RAS Unit Director (predecessor to the Medicine Hat and Lethbridge co-director positions) from 2004-2007, and prior to that was the RAS Regional Site Coordinator in Lethbridge.
The Co-Director has the major responsibility for the planning, development, promotion, implementation and evaluation of the University of Calgary’s Family Medicine Residency Program for their site, in partnership with the other Co- Director of RAS, Dr. Bobbi-Jo Whitfield in Medicine Hat, and the Rural Program Director, University of Calgary Family Medicine Department. The administrative offices for RAS are located in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, staffed by Rural Unit Coordinators, Wendy Saucier (Medicine Hat) and Wendy Gibbons (Lethbridge).
The Alberta Rural Family Medicine Network (ARFMN) is a unique collaborative venture, offered through the Family Medicine departments of the Universities of Alberta and Calgary, and supported and funded by RPAP | Health Workforce for Alberta. The ARFMN trains up to 60 Family Medicine residents per year in rural and regional community and hospital practices and provides positive exposure to rural community living while the resident physicians are still in training. The Network takes advantage of a rural curriculum and a “network” of rural-based physician teachers and university faculty.
We welcome Dr. Koegler to his new role, and join us in thanking Dr. Rick Buck for his contributions to RAS.