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COMMITTEE ATTRACTS SOON-TO-GRADUATE FAMILY PHYSICIAN

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, MONDAY, July 7, 2008 - The members of the Community Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee (CPRRC) are pleased to announce the successful recruitment of Dr. Colin Dahle. Currently completing his studies in family medicine, Dr. Dahle plans to graduate in January 2009 and set up a family practice in the community shortly after.

"Our committee was introduced to Dr. Dahle several years ago when he was in the area on a student rotation, said Kim Rudd, CPRRC Chair. "We met with him again in August 2007, when he returned for three weeks as a resident in the Northumberland Hills Hospital's Emergency Department. We were very hopeful at that time that we could ultimately convince him to settle in our area. I'm pleased to announce that this is, in fact, how it has turned out."

Born in Manitoba, Dr. Dahle grew up in Oshawa. He attended medical school at the University of Sydney in Australia from 2001 to 2005 but family connections drew him back to the area. He is currently in the final stage of his two-year family medicine residency at Queen's University in Kingston.

"The fact that we're targeting family physicians who have not yet completed their studies speaks volumes about the climate facing communities today in their search for more family physicians, said Ms. Rudd. "Students such as Dr. Dahle have many opportunities to choose from, and the onus is on the community to actively demonstrate its benefits. This is the approach we took with Dr. Dahle and it's the approach we hope to use to attract more family physicians in the future."
  
An estimated 10,000 - 12,000 individuals in west Northumberland are currently without a family physician. Those hoping to find a place in Dr. Dahle's future practice will have to wait a bit longer before getting an opportunity to contact him. With graduation set for January 2009, he will not be in a position to set up a practice until the winter of that year.

"At this point, the Committee simply wants to confirm that we have successfully recruited a new physician to our area, and to give the community a sense of the timeframe in which he hopes to be opening his practice," said Ms. Rudd. "Dr. Dahle will share more details as they become available later this winter."

About the Community Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee
Formed in 2001, the Community Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee (CPRRC) is a volunteer group of citizens representing community agencies and businesses, municipalities, physicians and the Northumberland Hills Hospital. Chaired by local resident Kim Rudd, the Committee's mandate is to attract new family physicians to the area and to lead efforts helpful in retaining the excellent family physicians working in our communities today.

Contact: Mary-Jo Bathe, Community Physician Recruitment and Retention Coordinator, 905-377-7797 or mjbathe@nhh.ca.
More News
While settling into a new community and seeing new patients. Northumberland Hills Hospital's new obstetrician-gynecologist Asiya Hameed has an additional priority: enhancing women's-wellness services.

Expanding and strengthening the services offered at the hospital's Clay and Elaine Elliott Women's Health Centre is something Dr. Hameed looks forward to - for example, she will now be able to provide colonoscopies locally.

Interviewed in her new office in the hospital's maternity wing, she displays a gentle manner and a ready smile. recalling that even as a girl growing up in India, she was keen to enter the medical profession.

"I had not thought about a specialty but, as I trained in my initial few years, I found my interests lie more with women. I have more empathy with them and felt I could understand them more and would be able to offer them more." she said. "I felt more professionally fulfilled when I look after women and especially in obstetrics."
 
Dr. Asiya Hameed officially opened her office December 17. She specializes in obstetrics and gynecology.
Photo by Ted Amsden
  
As the second obstetrician gynecologist in the area, she joins Dr. Michael Green in offering these services. And the fact that she's a woman makes it a strong complement. Her sense is that some women prefer a female obstetrician-gynecologist though certainly not in every case.

She referred to an intense survey in the United Kingdom of women on that very topic.

"Surprisingly. the outcome was no preference as such," she said. "But when you talk to women, it's more or less obvious they are happier to be with a woman.

This study didn't prove it either way but in my work in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, I felt strongly the women were happy to have me as a gynecologist-obstetrician. When I was leaving they were quite sad - and I was sad to leave them. Saskatchewan is an extremely friendly province with lovely people."

The move was made for family reasons, she explained. With no extended family in Canada, her immediate family is very important to her.

"We felt we have more long-term prospects in Ontario." she said.

Her husband's work in heavy-equipment rentals took him to Toronto, and the family followed. Her son, who was at the University of Saskatchewan, is now in his third year as a kinesiology major at York University.

"He's very keen on health care, and I hope he achieves his goals," she said with a fond smile.

Once she made the decision to move to Ontario, she had several prospects. Northumberland Hills Hospital among them. She saw the hospital's ad in a professional journal and contacted vice-president of patient-care services Mary Anne Shill.

"She was very helpful," Dr. Hameed recalled. "I said I had to make a decision regarding my son's university and I had a couple of other options to choose from with some other hospitals, so I explained I had very little time. She arranged an early guided visit.

"I was very pleased with the administration here. They were very kind and extremely helpful in helping me make the decision.

"I wanted to be closer to Toronto, and Cobourg is an ideal community." she declared.

"I find the hospital so helpful and co-operative, making me feel comfortable in starting my practice here - with office premises in the hospital, which is very helpful. They are doing everything to help me with my work. I hope I live up to their expectations!"
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