These students could be the future of Nunavut health care

This week in Iqaluit about 20 high schoolers from across Nunavut got a crash course in what a career in medicine could look like.

The students tried suturing fake skin, inserting an IV into a fake arm with veins, and putting real casts on each other.

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For Grade 10 student Melissa Flynn from Arviat, learning CPR was a highlight. She says she wants to be a nurse or a doctor.

"I was really interested in that since I was 10, so I took the program because it would be a great experience and a good thing to put on my college application form," Flynn said.

After participating in the health camp, which started Monday and runs until Friday, she's considering the nursing program at Nunavut Arctic College.  

The college hosted the workshop in conjunction with the Qikiqtani General Hospital.

Students applied to the camp by answering essay questions on why medicine interests them as a career, and what experiences they've had with the health-care system.

To help with career planning, a community mentor is on hand to help students select the appropriate high school courses to be eligible to apply for health-care college and university programs.

Pilot program

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine has been running a similar camp for the last 12 years out of Thunder Bay, Ont., which students from Nunavut have attended in the past.

A few years ago the school reached out to Nunavut's Department of Health about bringing the program further north — this is the first year the program has been run in the territory.

Jennifer Wakegijig, the manager of program development with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, says there's a desire to run it every year in each region of Nunavut, but she says that depends on funding coming through.

She's optimistic about the benefits of the program, which she hopes will eventually stabilize the workforce in health.

"When people have a different doctor and nurse every time they go to a nursing station, they need to tell their stories over and over again," Wakegijig said.

"We also know there's a higher incidence of medical errors when we don't have the same service provider."

She says if more Nunavummiut work in health care, more residents will be able to get culturally-appropriate care in Inuktitut.

It's already working in Northern Ontario, Wakegijig says. Students applying for university have credited the camp with instilling a desire to work in health care.

All of the students will receive a certificate at the end of the week for their participation.

The program is a partnership between the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Nunavut's departments of Health and Education, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre and Nunavut Arctic College.