According to Rural Canada Statistics, nearly six million Canadians – about 16 per cent of the population – reside in rural communities, yet only seven per cent of the country’s physicians serve these areas. As the demand for health-care professionals in rural regions continues to grow, the shortage of family doctors and other medical practitioners remains a critical concern, particularly in Southwestern Ontario.
Discovery Healthcare is a one-week medical science summer camp for high school students organized by Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University.
The camp provides a unique learning opportunity and cultivates interest in medical careers among young people. By creating pathways for youth to practice in rural settings, communities can work toward closing the health-care gap and ensuring that all Canadians, regardless of where they live, have access to quality care.
“Addressing the limited access to health care in rural communities requires long-term solutions, including initiatives that encourage aspiring health-care professionals,” said Dr. Victor Ng, assistant dean, Distributed Education at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry. “Discovery Healthcare provides high school students an early insight into the various aspects of health care through interactive workshops, hospital tours, mentorship from medical students and informative sessions with health-care professionals. The camp strives to ignite passion among campers for health and medical sciences.”
The camp is led by first- and second-year medical students. These future medical professionals spend the week providing mentorship and learning opportunities for the campers.
Discovery Healthcare is being offered in eight communities over one week:
- Goderich in partnership with Gateway Centre for Excellence in Rural Health
- Sarnia in partnership with Bluewater Health and Lambton College
- Chatham in partnership with Chatham-Kent Health Alliance
- Stratford in partnership with Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance
- St. Thomas in partnership with the St. Thomas General Hospital
- Windsor in partnership with the University of Windsor
- Hanover in partnership with Hanover District Hospital
- Woodstock in partnership with Woodstock Hospital
Campers participate in unique learning opportunities such as:
- Clinical skills sessions (suturing, casting, stethoscope activities, wound dressing)
- Talks from health-care professionals and opportunities for clinical exposure (job shadowing)
- Discussions involving the path to various health-care professions (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, EMS, and dentistry)
- Stand Up for Health (teaching Social Determinants of Health)
- An introduction to case-based learning and sample diagnostic cases
- Recreation sessions incorporating fun and team-building activities
Registration is now open for the 2025 Discovery Healthcare Camp. To secure a spot, interested campers can register by visiting: https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/distributededucation/discovery_healthcare_program/campers.html
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