By Emily Jaycox for the Rimbey Review
Fifty-six medical and nursing students from the University of Alberta spent the weekend in Rimbey working on their skills and enjoying small-town life.
Rimbey hosted a Rural Professionals Health Action Plan (RhPAP) post-secondary student skills weekend Aug. 25 and 26.
“The students will also have an opportunity to experience life in Rimbey through a few social activities and events, including Rock’n Rimbey and the Central Alberta Raceways events,” said Rebekah Seidel, director of Rural Community Development and Engagement for RhPAP in an e-mail.
The event was organized by RhPAP, which has its head office in Edmonton, along with the Rural Health Professions Attraction and Retention (RHPAR) committee.
The RHPAR committee is made up of local community members and healthcare representatives.
The students started off the weekend at the Rimbey Hospital and Care Centre Saturday morning, practicing skills such as IV starts, suturing, and setting casts, according to Peggy Makofka, a member of the RHPAR committee.
The students worked through six different skills stations, instructed by local doctors, nurses and physiotherapists, as well as STARS Air Ambulance mobile training unit.
The goal of the committee is to attract medical personnel to Rimbey, and show them the benefits of small-town living, says Makofka.
The students stayed at the Best Western and had dinner at Liberty Hall, a farm in Hoadley, before being bused to the Rock’n Rimbey dance at the Peter Lougheed Community Centre Saturday night.
On Sunday morning, the students were treated to front row viewing at Central Alberta Raceways to watch the drag races.
