Written by: Eryn Rizzoli, Communications Coordinator, UBC Island Medical Program
Created to help address regional shortages of physicians, the Island Medical Program (IMP) welcomed its first students to the University of Victoria in January 2005, after they spent their first term at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Ten years later, the Island Medical Program has graduated a total of 191 new doctors, many of whom have stayed in B.C. and also returned to Vancouver Island.
Dr. Michelle Tousignant
For Dr. Michelle Tousignant, the decision to practice medicine on the Island was easy. Her father’s military career meant she moved around throughout her childhood and, for once in her life, she felt like she was putting down roots while pursuing her Doctor of Medicine in Victoria.
One of 24 students in the IMP’s first class 10 years ago, Tousignant remembers the overwhelming feeling of being part of something special. “I don’t know of another situation like it. We were working hand in hand with faculty to help shape a program that would affect learning for not only ourselves, but future cohorts as well,” she says. “The connections we made with fellow students and faculty were deep, to say the least.”
Tousignant believes that she would have graduated at least a year later had she not been at the IMP. In her second year, Tousignant sustained a serious concussion that affected her concentration during her recovery. It took tremendous effort on her part to complete her studies and graduate with her class, but it also took a dedicated faculty to support her.
“I have enormous gratitude for the professors and staff who had a hand in adapting the curriculum for me during such a challenging time. They really bent over backwards,” explains Tousignant.
Now an Emergency Physician, Tousignant divides her time between the Victoria General Hospital and the Royal Jubilee Hospital. “It’s really neat to be back home teaching medical students and residents, both on shift as well as in small groups and simulation-based learning sessions — it’s a full-circle moment.”
A doctor who practices the healthy lifestyle she preaches, Tousignant says that she finds the patient population in Victoria most rewarding. “I love all of the things that many people love about Victoria, like the weather and the natural surroundings, but my patients here might be the most inspiring thing,” she says. “These are people who truly value health and wellness and are really receptive to the preventive measures I recommend. In fact, there have been times I’ve been lapped by a 70-year-old patient while out on my 20-kilometre run!”
The UBC MD Undergraduate Program is proudly celebrating 10 years of province-wide medical education. One of the first distributed sites, the Island Medical Program was established in collaboration with the University of Victoria and Island Health. Without the support of these institutions and that of hundreds of physicians, preceptors, nurses and other medical professionals, the clinical training aspect of the curriculum could not be met.