Dr. Jacyln Wallace of Red Deer is the recipient of a 2021 Rural Resident Leadership Award.
The Society of Rural Physicians of Canada presents Rural Student and Resident Leadership Awards to two students and two residents who have demonstrated a sustained interest in rural medicine.
Wallace is said to be a “fierce advocate for rural medicine” and made sure that rural programs are promoted and featured prominently in the University of Alberta’s Canadian Resident Matching Service promotional material and virtual Town Halls.
She did several electives in rural medicine as a medical student at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) in North Bay, and Cochran.
While at NOSM, she was part of a student-led outreach that responds to the diverse needs of the vulnerable population in Sudbury. She was also part of curriculum meetings for NOSM’s programs to ensure rural teaching is equivalent to colleagues in central centers. The advocacy was essential to keep remote indigenous communities electives in the midst of changing budgets and changing Deans.
Two Sundre doctors, Dr. Robert Warren and Dr. Vesta Warren, were also recognized by the rural physicians society. Both received Rural Service Awards which recognizes doctors who live and work in rural Canada and who have served rural communities for 10 or more years.