P.A. doctor named Saskatchewan’s best

Smith-Windsor said he was a bit shocked when he found out the news.

Still, it cannot come as too much of a surprise, with the work he’s done at Prince Albert’s Associated Medical Clinic.

“Since my arrival, we’ve always tried to put the emphasis on good, comprehensive care for our patients,” he said.

He’s also worked to make major advancements in programming in rural parts of the province, developing the Rural Family Medicine Program in Prince Albert and now working for the College of Medicine. He’s also worked on developing similar programs in North Battleford and Moose Jaw.

“Being in Prince Albert, we have a tremendous variety of patients. Even though it’s a community of only 40,000, it has a very large service district and we serve a large portion of northern First Nations’ communities, so it seemed like it was a prime area for teaching medical students and residents family medicine,” explained Smith-Windsor.

Smith-Windsor also developed an enhanced surgical skills program in the region. Through the program, he’s been able to train working family doctors to do basic surgical procedures during emergencies.

“In more rural areas, they don’t have full-time surgical care. (The training) allows individuals to practise family medicine but also have the skills to deliver babies and if there’s an acute appendix or a serious motor vehicle accident or trauma of some sort, they have additional skills so they can deal with that on site before they transfer out if they need to,” he said.

While they’ve made advancements in many areas, there are still improvements he said he’d like to see, including fewer patients being passed off to specialists instead of staying with their family doctor in times of need.

“A lot of the challenges we face are systemic challenges, not just confined to Prince Albert but to medical care in general,” said Smith-Windsor. “I would like to see a return, in some respect, to broader spectrum practise for family physicians.

“Literature shows the best care, and the most economically viable care, is provided by primary care physicians who provide a broad spectrum of care.”

In larger centres, Smith-Windsor said there are more specialists, and family physicians are encouraged to tighten up their practise.

“I think that’s not as good for patients in terms of continuity,” he said.

Over the years, Smith-Windsor said he’s had a great experience growing relationships with his patients.

“(When) you’ve been looking after people for, in many cases, 25 years, they become close to friends,” he said. “I feel very close to most of my patients and I enjoy chatting with them and caring for them.

“When you get the opportunity to deliver a baby and see them grow up and turn into patients, and adults … that’s really very special. Those are things you learn to appreciate over many years.”

With his success in the field, it’s almost surprising Smith-Windsor first wanted to be a veterinarian, and went on to work in biology.

“After four or five years, I was feeling sort of unfulfilled, not providing service to the people that I felt I should be,” he said. “At that point, I thought medicine would be a better place for me to go.”

In the decades since, he hasn’t look back and said he’s happy he made the choice to help people, but the positivity goes both ways.

“I owe a lot of gratitude to my patients for sticking with me and putting their trust in my care… that means a lot to me as a physician.”

asoloducha@panow.com

On Twitter: @alex_soloducha

by Alex Soloducha

P.A. doctor named Saskatchewan’s best

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