view . spring 2012
25
In 2008, as a member of the first class of The
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor
Program, Fatima Taboun considered becoming
a pediatrician.
Then during her obstetrics rotation at
Windsor Regional Hospital, she helped deliver her first baby.
“When I did it, I absolutely fell in love with it,” says
Taboun. “The father started crying, and then I thought I
was going to start crying.” Since then, she has assisted in
more than 30 deliveries and plans to specialize in obstetrics
and gynecology in Windsor, where she grew up.
Taboun BSc ’07, is one of the 24 members of the
program’s charter class who will graduate in spring 2012.
She will then head off for a
two-year residency.
Her story speaks to what
is quickly becoming known in
medical education circles as
“the Windsor experience.”
Crucial components
of that experience include
direct access to physicians,
patients and new, state-of-the-
art equipment and facilities.
Another element of that experience seems to be a fairly
common realization among the students that Windsor
would be a great place for a doctor to establish a practice.
Charter class member Stephanie Miskin Bed ’08, plans
to practise family medicine in Windsor after she completes
her residency. A third-generation Windsorite, Miskin says
the students she knows who came from other areas with
misgivings about the location quickly changed their tunes
once they settled in. The sense of involvement with the
community also resonated with the students, Miskin adds.
“It was very early on that they realized how important
their role in the community really was. It’s just a really
intimate working environment. The Windsor program is
evolving and I find it really exciting to be a part of that.”
Students planning to remain in the area bring to fruition
the vision of the medical school’s earliest proponents. They
hoped that a provincial investment in a medical school
satellite in one of Ontario’s most underserviced areas
would realize a return of doctors setting up their practices
in Windsor and Essex County.
Dr. G. Allan Heimann, Medical Officer of Health for
Windsor-Essex, said the area can no longer be considered
underserviced and credits the medical school for attracting
new doctors and improving the quality of health care
across the region.
“It’s extremely gratifying,” said Dr. Heimann, an original
member of the committee
called together by Windsor-
Tecumseh MPP Dwight
Duncan in the summer of 2000
to explore the possibility of
attracting a medical school to
the region. “It’s been 12 years
since we started and it’s been
going in slow, incremental
steps. But I’m amazed at how
well the work has continued.
Once we got the commitment, a lot of the heavy lifting was
done by a large group of people.”
Dr. Gerry Cooper, associate dean of the program, saw
similar success as one of the first non-physician faculty
members at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine
(NOSM). It opened in 2005 as the first new Canadian
medical school in more than 30 years, with campuses at
Laurentian and Lakehead universities.
NOSM’s charter class graduated in 2009. About 63 per
cent have chosen family medicine and about 35 per cent
are taking their residency training in Northern Ontario. Of
all those who have taken residency training in Northern
Ontario – including those from that region and elsewhere –
65 per cent remained there after completing their training.
“THIS IS A TIME TO CELEBRATE
THE STUDENTS WHO MADE
THE DECISION TO COME HERE
.
”
DR. ALAN WILDEMAN
A community dream comes true
FIRST CLASS
From left, Fatima Taboun, Eric Bol and Craig Campagna are three of the 24 students who will graduate this year as the
charter class of the The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program.
BY STEPHEN FIELDS
