Dr. Hal Irvine

By staying and learning in the rural hospitals over the long-term, the student will gain a broader, more general instruction of rural medicine and what it has to offer - instead of spending time at widely diverse facilities where they often work with specialists who concentrate on highly specific procedures, said Dr. Hal Irvine, a Sundre physician and Clinical Associate Professor with the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary.

"We are actually very excited about the program," said Dr. Irvine.
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A separate but related part of the ICC program will involve efforts to get the rural communities involved in the students' experiences, said Dr. Irvine.Stakeholders such as business leaders, elected officials and others have already been taking part in meetings about the program, with the community leaders being encouraged to get involved.

"We want them to become part of the community," said Dr. Irvine."We want them to feel that they are contributing to the communities, and see the advantages of rural medicine."

The provincial government has been asked to provide funding to cover administration and development for the first year of the program.The costs will certainly be in the millions, said Dr. Irvine.

An announcement about funding from the province for the ICC should come within the next months, he said.

Down the road the plan is to hopefully expand the program to include more than the initial 12 students, he said.

"It's starting small with the hope that it will grow," said Dr. Irvine.

"Our nurses are certainly in a position that they are working very hard," said Dr. Hal Irvine, Sundre physician and group member.

"Our nurses are certainly in a position that they are working very hard," said Dr. Hal Irvine, Sundre physician and meeting co-organizer.
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"We've had some discussion about what do we do in a real crisis where patient safety becomes a concern," said Irvine.
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During the meeting Dr. Irvine and Grivell both said recruiting more nurses to Sundre is the preferred long term solution to the situation.
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"There were a lot of good ideas generated," said Dr. Irvine.

Regina Donnelly of Red Deer and Hal Irvine of Sundre were honored as recipients of this year's Clinician of the Year Awards at the DTHR Medical Staff meeting on December 12, 2002.
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Dr. Hal Irvine has been a Family Physician who has committed his talents to the community of Sundre for 20 years.He provides exemplary care to his patients.He often makes himself available when not on call to assist colleagues at a moments notice and to provide services such as epidural anesthesia for women in labor, airway management and procedural sedation.He is always calm, cool and collected and it is said that the staff at the Sundre Hospital would walk through fire if he asked them to.His knowledge and good judgment is prized by all who work with him.He has an excellent command of the diverse skills needed to successfully practice in a rural setting.He continually maintains his abilities at the cutting edge and is always generous in sharing his knowledge with others.He teaches community prenatal classes and provides nursing in-services.Dr Irvine is an excellent mentor and teacher for medical students and residents from the U of C. He is nationally recognized for his leadership in the area of General Practice - Anesthesia and has served on numerous provincial and national committees.