This is Discovery Week at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital, where first-year medical students from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University experience healthcare in a smaller community setting.
It’s been a tradition for the past 27 years and it is a week where the students have the opportunity to meet patients, delve into the healthcare system and interact with colleagues.
Some of this year’s students are pictured below.
For Dr. Ramesh Reddy (pictured at left with Dr. Mills), who specializes in family medicine at the hospital, it’s a week that awakens fond memories.
In 2003, he was a first-year student assigned to St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital and the experience during Discovery Week had a lasting impact far beyond his expectations.
Between 2006 and 2009, Dr. Reddy returned to STEGH as a trainee physician where he again crossed paths with Dr. Mills.
And in 2009 he was on board as an ER physician.
Having experienced it, Dr. Reddy is an enthusiastic proponent of Discovery Week.
And so, what was his reaction in 2003 when told he would spend the week in St. Thomas?
As such, Dr. Reddy truly feels the name Discovery Week is most appropriate on more than one level.
He points out the week is a door opener into the community itself.
So much so that he and his wife now live in the area instead of setting down roots in a large urban centre. An outcome he refers to as diverting.
When he bumps into the first-year students, Dr. Reddy proudly states, “You know what, I was here 20 years ago, just like you. And now, I’m still here. And that’s how it started. It’s come full circle.”
Written by Ian McCallum
