The doors are reopening for the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine's satellite program at the University of Alberta's Augustana Campus. The program offers 44 spots a year in master's programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology. There is a shortage of health-care professionals practising rurally, so re-establishing the satellite program at the campus in Camrose will build rural capacity and expose all students to the rural environment.
"This is an exciting time for the faculty. With the support of the provincial government, and together with our partners at Augustana, we are growing our programs to address pressing needs for rural rehabilitation care. Our students will get experience learning and working outside of urban areas, which helps lead to employment in small towns and municipalities across Alberta," says Tammy Hopper, dean of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.
"Camrose is a hub for wide-ranging medical services and the community is very excited about the return of Rehab Medicine at the Augustana Campus," adds John Parkins, dean of Augustana. "We look forward to collaborating with community partners on ways of integrating our students into the medical services community within the region."
A decade of excellence in education
The shortage of health-care providers in rural communities isn't a new issue, and back in 2010, the faculty decided to address the need for more physiotherapists by launching a rural pilot program. While the program closed in 2020 amid budget constraints, its decade of success built a strong foundation that the reopened program can build upon as it further grows.
Lisa Jasper, adjunct professor in the faculty and co-ordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Pain Management program, joined in 2011 as a co-ordinator for the master's in physiotherapy satellite program at Augustana Campus.
"We didn't really know what we were getting into," she laughs. "But, we just had an attitude of 'sure, we can do that' — and then we figured out how."
While video conferencing platforms like Zoom are commonplace now, nearly 15 years ago, many of the potential students or instructors didn't have the same level of familiarity. "I think most of our students were hesitant at first, honestly," says Jasper. "People really had to see it to understand it."
Their perspectives changed when they were able to visit Augustana Campus and see the setup available, she explains. The success of the program's initial phase was recently documented in a research paper that surveyed students who studied from 2012-2015. The paper looked into the students' experiences in the program.
"I don't think any of us would rather be anywhere but here," one student commented in the survey while another referred to the campus as "a place to call our home."
"We worked hard to make sure that it was an equivalent learning environment and that student satisfaction and engagement were high — and we achieved that," says Jasper.
The study also gathered data on employment locations for the 2012-2019 graduates' first physical therapy position and current employment to gauge what proportion of graduates went on to practise rurally.
The results were encouraging. On average, approximately 20 per cent of licensed physiotherapists in Alberta work in rural locations. In comparison, about 74 per cent of graduates from the satellite campus secured their first position in a rural location, and 38 per cent were employed in rural communities at the time of the survey.
"We found that exposure to the rural setting really opened their eyes to a lot of the benefits of rural practice," says Jasper.
A new perspective
Dan Gillespie was one of the students in the very first cohort of the satellite program. A former high-school teacher from Toronto, Gillespie moved to Calgary for a teaching position and a year in, decided to pivot and return to pursue his growing interest in physiotherapy.
After attending an open house event at Augustana, meeting some of his future classmates and seeing the set-up and logistics for how the courses would be delivered, he decided to go for it.
"I could just tell there was a real sense of excitement, a desire to increase learning in rural areas and deliver rural care. That resonated with me."
He and his wife welcomed their first child while he was completing the program, quickly putting down roots in the community — and 14 years later, he still calls Camrose home.
After graduation, Gillespie worked with the Stroke Early Supported Discharge Program, driving around to see patients within a 100-kilometre radius of Camrose and collaborating with a multidisciplinary team to provide the treatments and interventions needed. "It was a really rewarding experience," he says. "There's so much innovation in rural care and rural health."
Gillespie also developed and taught a continuing education course on telerehabilitation for clinicians, providing other practitioners with the knowledge they need to more confidently and efficiently deliver remote care. "That was definitely inspired by my time in the program, mixed with the experience of seeing first-hand the access disparities for people in rural Alberta."
As the satellite program reopens, Gillespie will be getting a very different perspective — instead of being one of the students attending the lectures, he'll be at the front of the class as one of the program's instructors.
"I think it's back and better than ever," says Gillespie, citing the advancements in technology that have led to better camera quality and resolution as well as structural improvements that have made the physical spaces on campus more accessible. Additionally, Augustana Campus had the flexibility to convert existing spaces into classrooms and labs for the expanded program.
"Having all three disciplines there is amazing, and I'm looking forward to working together more and seeing what that looks like in practice."
A culture of collaboration
While Gillespie has transitioned from student to instructor, one of his colleagues is stepping into a familiar role. Chris Zarski, an associate teaching professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and physiotherapist in Camrose, worked alongside Jasper as one of the co-ordinators when the satellite program launched in 2010. He'll be taking the reins once more in the newly invigorated program.
The inaugural program was "a really special thing," Zarski says. "I always had hope that it would come back — I believed in it, I knew it worked and now I am very excited for the Camrose community."
While the program initially only took physiotherapy students, Zarski's area of expertise, he believes expanding to include occupational therapy and speech-language pathology will be beneficial for the incoming students.
"The relationships and some of the interprofessional learning opportunities that come with having other departments there is really exciting," he says.
In many ways, the ability for different departments to interact and learn from one another is an apt preview of what it's often like to practice in rural communities.
"You don't have as many resources to rely on as perhaps some of the bigger centres, so people are often collaborative," says Jasper.
"If you're working in rural, you have to be a jack of all trades," adds Zarski. For those who thrive in the rural setting, that isn't a downside. Instead, it's an appealing alternative to specializing in one particular area. No two days are the same, and practitioners who value variety thrive.
And, he says that rural health-care professionals often have the opportunity to take on leadership roles earlier than their urban counterparts. That's what happened with his own career, Zarski explains.
"All of a sudden in my late 20s I got asked to be a professional practice lead, which led me to teaching at the university. I was 28 years old. I would have never gotten that opportunity elsewhere, but because I was the only physio in the area, I got to take on these projects."
The first group of students attending classes in the reopened satellite program at Augustana Campus started in September; according to Zarski, the response so far has been overwhelmingly positive.
"I really think the community that's created out here is the best part of it," says Zarski. "It becomes more like a family."
