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Sad to leave Ponoka

Third-year medical students says goodbyes to Ponoka after his training rotation.

Dear Editor,

I am one of the two medical students who has been working in Ponoka over the past year with the University of Alberta’s Integrated Community Clerkship program and our rotation is now coming to an end. During that time I have had a chance to meet and be a part of the care of many people in this town.  Before we left I wanted to reach out to express my gratitude and appreciation to all who made my time here so memorable.

I would like to express my gratitude to the physicians of the Family Health Clinic who patiently (and I must emphasis patiently) taught us over the past year. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge.

I would like to thank the office staff, nurses and other healthcare professionals at the Family Health Clinic and the Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre who looked out for us, who helped guide us and who answered our endless questions. It was a pleasure to work with all of you.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the people of the town and county of Ponoka who I met in the clinic and the hospital. It was a privilege to share in your lives, in the 3 a.m. births, in passings, in hockey injuries and strep throats, in bumps, lumps and mumps, in watching some of you become mothers and fathers while being a part of your care team when some of you said goodbye to your own mother or father.

It is bittersweet to leave this town now (especially right before stampede). I will always look back on this year as the first year I truly began the study of medicine. It has been a great joy to have been a part of this community for the past year.

Gregory Sawisky

University of Alberta