—Photo supplied by Dr. Foose Onsongo
It’s never too late to go after your dreams—just ask Dr. Foose Onsongo.
The Olds family physician always wanted to offer a higher level of obstetrical care for her patients with low-to-moderate risk pregnancies and deliveries throughout her medical career. Life and other challenges got in the way of her taking the Enhanced Skills Obstetrical Surgical Skills training until now.
While she was able to deliver low–risk babies as a member of the Peaks to Prairies Obstetrics Care Team at the Olds Hospital and Care Centre, Dr. Onsongo aspired to expand her skills to include caesarean sections and other obstetrical procedures.
Dr. Onsongo is heading to the University of British Columbia (UBC) early next year to participate in Enhanced Skills Obstetrical Surgical Skills training, supported by RhPAP’s Physician Skills Enrichment Grant (PSEG) Program. The six-month program offers family physicians more advanced training for obstetrics, including added competency in surgical obstetrics, assisted vaginal deliveries, third and fourth vaginal lacerations, management of postpartum hemorrhages, and dilation and curettage for miscarriages.
She recalls her first experience delivering a baby in South Africa as a medical student and was captivated.
“I thought, ‘Wow.’ I really loved it. It’s really the only time in a hospital when people are happy,” says Dr Onsongo, who returned to Canada in 2007 to start her medical career in High Level.
“It’s new life, it’s exciting. The babies are cute, they’re squishy, they’re just lovely. It’s very stressful, but it’s a high-stress, high-reward kind of thing.”
— Photo supplied by Dr. Foose Onsongo
The physician never gave up on the idea of being able to expand her obstetrical skills. Her dream was put on hold several times during her 22-year medical career while she raised her family and waited for the right opportunity within the Wild Rose Medical Centre in Olds to take time away to study.
Finally, a chance to take the training came up at UBC in Surrey, but Dr. Onsongo had to act fast.
“In January this year, my facility medical director, Dr. (Rebecca) Sloan, called me up … and said, ‘You have to apply by the end of this week.’”
“I went home, and I discussed it with my husband, and I said, ‘Listen, there’s this opportunity. I don’t know if I’ll get it, but if I do, that means I’m gone for six months.’
“We talked to the kids, and the kids were like, ‘Well, if you want to do it, just apply’. So I applied.”
While she admits it will be a long time away from her husband and two young children, she can’t wait to start.
“I’ve been trying to do this for as long as I can remember, so I was really excited,” says Dr. Onsongo.
RhPAP will help fund many of her expenses through PSEG, a program designed to make it easier for doctors to access continuing medical education and continuing professional development opportunities to meet the needs of their communities.
Dr. Onsongo says the $35,000 grant will help ease the family’s financial burden of covering the cost of two households while she is away from her practice.
Once she completes her training, she will be one of three physicians in Olds with the ability to do advanced obstetrics. High risk pregnancies where mothers have other health issues will continue to be referred to specialists in Red Deer or Calgary.
She can’t wait to help more patients from the area including Olds, Cremona, Carstairs, Sundre, Three Hills, and even Red Deer, give birth at a smaller facility closer to home as many nearby hospitals no longer offer obstetric services.
“Olds is very fortunate to have that capability,” says Dr. Onsongo.
“Rural obstetrics is dying so a lot of patients really appreciate the small hospital … There’s no (limit to) visiting hours, it’s your hometown.”