Medical students at Erie Shores

By Mark Ribble

As part of Discovery Week 2023, 10 first-year medical students landed at Erie Shores HealthCare in Leamington for some close-up learning experience in a hospital setting.

The students are all part of Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry (London and Windsor Campuses).

Discovery week is a specialized learning experience that immerses first-year medical students in rural and regional healthcare environments. It will see over 170 Schulich medical students distributed across 29 different communities. The program is in its 25th year.

For students Scott Harrison and Xin Yue Wang, the opportunity to learn in a more rural setting is something they have looked forward to.

Medical Student Scott Harrison points to the ultrasound screen as fellow student Xin Yue Wang manoeuvres the probe on a chicken breast, while Dr. Elizabeth Hooper, right, looks on.

SUN photo

When asked if it was a possibility that they would choose a smaller community hospital like Erie Shores over the big city hospitals for their careers, they both said they would enjoy that.

It’s the first time in this area for both Harrison — who is from Komoka — and Wang — who is from Mississauga.

The pair were learning hands-on diagnostic techniques from Erie Shores HealthCare radiologist Dr. Elizabeth Hooper, who was showing them how to take an ultrasound-aided soft tissue biopsy.

Dr. Hooper had two boneless skinless chicken breasts — each with an olive inserted in the middle — and the challenge for the students was to locate the olive with the ultrasound and insert a needle into it and draw a biopsy of the olive. Both were successful, but not without using some hand-eye coordination.