Cumberland County to benefit from family medicine resident training program

Two residents from Dalhousie University’s medical school arrive in Amherst to train

A reception was held recently to welcome six family medical residents to the northern zone. Joining area physicians Dr. Tena Frizzle (back left) and Dr. Pippa Moss (front left) are (back, from second left) Dr. Martika Rodgers, Dr. Michael Smith, (front, from second left) Dr. Aruba Nurulla, Dr Jillian Jung and Dr. Jamie Grandy. Missing is family medical resident Dr. Matthew Lowe. - Contributed

AMHERST, N.S. — Bringing family medicine residents to Amherst is going to pay dividends to both the community and the medical residents.
Speaking during a reception for the northern zone’s six family medicine residents from Dalhousie University on July 13, Dr. Pippa Moss, the president of the Cumberland County Medical Staff Association said the program will be mutually beneficial to Amherst and the medical residents.
“It’s wonderful having medical residents here in the community because there’s so much expertise here,” Moss said. “There are some things we can teach that you can’t teach easily in a more traditional environment such as the skills necessary for rural medicine. We’re going to be training top notch rural physicians so they’ll be able to meet the needs of people who don’t live in big cities.”
Amherst has two of the six family medicine residents who are working with preceptors in the northern zone. Dr. Aruba Nurullah is working with Dr. Janneke Gradstein while Dr. Michael Smith is working with Dr. Murray McCrossin.
Nurullah is excited about working in family medicine in the North Nova area.
She’s one of six new family medicine residents that started working in early July.
“When you apply to Dalhousie family medicine you rank sites and I put this site as number one,” she told the Truro News. “I did a rotation here in Truro and really liked it.”
Although all six residents will be working through the new North Nova Family Medicine Teaching Site in Truro, two will work with doctors in Truro, two will be in Amherst and two will be based in New Glasgow.
She is pleased to be working in Amherst.
“The community helped me find a place to stay and my husband’s company created a position for him so that he could move with me,” she said.
Nurullah is from Victoria, but studied at Dalhousie University and has friends nearby, as well as a brother living in Halifax. She said she thinks she’d be happy to stay in the area if there is a position for her once she finishes her residency.
Dr. Tena Frizzle of Amherst is the North Nova residency program faculty development co-ordinator for Dalhousie University. She sees big things coming from the program.
“I’m very excited about having the family medicine residency program in our area,” Frizzle said. “It’s a great opportunity for the residents, but also for us to be able to train and attract new family physicians.”
Frizzle said a high percentage of family medicine residents stay in the communities in which they train. She said the medical staff has been very welcoming to the two family medicine residents and she’s optimistic the program will see additional residents in future years.
“There are six in the first year and six next year to give us our compliment of 12 residents in the program,” Frizzle said.
Frizzle said it is important for people in the community to realize these two residents are not taking on new patients as they are not yet licensed to do so. People needing a family doctor are asked to call 811 to register.
“We are also encouraging people to join in the new and ongoing recruitment and retention efforts in our area,” Frizzle said.
Residency training is a joint effort of the provincial Department of Health and Wellness, Dalhousie Medical School and Nova Scotia Health Authority. Residents will spend two years in a family practice.
The creation of the North Nova site brings the total number of Dalhousie Family Medicine teaching sites to six, including a new site in Inverness this year, training about 80 family medicine residents throughout the year.
Residents and the physicians they’ll be working with include: Dr. Jamie Grandy – Dr. Steve Ellis and Dr. Nina Makkar – Bible Hill and Truro; Dr. Michael Smith – Dr. Murray McCrossin – Amherst; Dr. Martika Rodgers – Dr. Aaron Smith – Westville and New Glasgow; Dr. Jillian Jung – Dr. Bradley MacDougall – Westville and New Glasgow; Dr. Matthew Lowe – Dr. Mashalla Masoumi-Ravandi – Truro and Dr. Aruba Nurullah – Dr. Janneke Gradstein – Amherst.
(With files from Lynn Curwin, Truro News)