The University of Calgary’s two family medicine teaching clinics have expanded which means there are more exam rooms and more doctors.
The Central Teaching Clinic at the Sheldon M. Chumir Heath Centre downtown and the Sunridge Teaching Clinic on 36 Street N.E. will accept eight-thousand new patients between the two locations.
Several years ago it was estimated up to 20 percent of Calgarians didn’t have a family doctor, and those who do have one realize how fortunate they are. Sylvia Pflug says “I count myself lucky, it is something I’ve always had, I can’t imagine what it would be like not having that kind of safety net”.
The head of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary, Dr. Dennis Kreptul, says he believes the shortage of family doctors is easing as more medical student chose family medicine as a specialty.
The residents, who have just graduated from medical school, spend two to three years at the teaching clinics seeing patients under the supervision of a staff doctor.
Dr. Kreptul says the clinic will accept any patient, and patients can expect quality care. However, appointments might be slightly longer than at private family practices because the residents are learning, and therefore tend to take longer.
Dr. Tammy Bach, a first year family medicine resident says “one of the advantages of a teaching clinic, there aren’t the time pressures. So we spend more time with you and we do a pretty thorough job. The resident is usually the first person to see a patient, then we consult with our staff doctor, the more experienced doctor.”
For more information http://www.medicine.ucalgary.ca/clinics
