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Parkland Family Medicine Unit |

The Parkland Family Medicine Unit, based in Dauphin, is a training site of the University of Manitoba, Department of Family Medicine.



The Parkland unit hosts residents in their first and second years of family medicine residency training, alongside medical students and physician assistant trainees. The academic year starts in July and wraps up in June of each year.
On September 19, 2013 the Parkland unit held their annual “Farm Academic Day.” The objective of farm day is to create an awareness and understanding of family farm operations in the Parkland region. Second-year chief resident Dan Sheps, from Winnipeg, feels the day is very beneficial.

“We see so many patients that work on the farm, and we see many injuries from that in emergency and walk-in, so being able to understand the passion, technical knowledge, lifestyle and challenges related to farming is important.”

The residency program visited three farm operations in the former Parkland health region, now known as Prairie Mountain Health.

The first stop of the day was at a grain farm near Sifton, Manitoba. The group had the opportunity to review costs, potential stressors grain farmers face, and farm machinery, such as an auger, swather, combine, and anhydrous applicator.

The group proceeded to a cow calf cattle farm outside of Pine River. The residents were able to review immunizations, nutrition, and high-risk obstetrics with the ranching hosts. The group stopped in the Village of Ethelbert where they enjoyed a Ukrainian lunch at one of the local restaurant. In Ethelbert, the group was also able to tour the local health unit, where many of the residents will join a Family Medicine Preceptor in seeing clients.

The last stop of the day was at a bee farm outside of Ashville. The group met with two bee farmers and toured the operations honey harvesting facility, which includes the extracting plant.

Overall, this day has been highly anticipated by residents in the past and this year’s tour was a success. The residents returned with a clear understanding of the risks farming life presents, and the passion farmers hold within their career choice. In the end it was easy to see that family medicine and farming have more in common than we thought, after all both careers depend on a knowledge of science, hard work, and a good support team.