COLUMN: Viewpoint – Attracting professionals to rural communities

I was drawn to a recent Carillon article because it featured a former student of mine, local lawyer, Anne Barkman. Anne was talking to university students whose law professor had brought them to visit Steinbach. Anne spoke to the potential barristers about the rewarding professional pluses available in Steinbach, where they would have the opportunity to offer a diverse and appreciative clientele a wide variety of legal services, receive support from senior lawyers, and lead a more balanced life. Hopefully some of the visiting students will have been inspired to consider practicing law in a rural setting.

In August a new teaching training program launches at Canadian Mennonite University. A key feature is that students do 28 weeks of practical teaching in schools, rather than the 24 weeks required at other provincial universities. Work placements in rural and northern Manitoba communities will be prioritized. Hopefully this will aid in the recruitment of young teachers to live and build careers outside of Winnipeg.

When my nephew graduated from the University of Manitoba’s faculty of pharmacy he was offered a financial incentive to practice in a rural northern community. Raised a city boy, he planned to leave the north after two years to move back to Winnipeg. But he fell in love with the outdoor activities associated with lakeside living, and a local young lady. Ten years later he still practices pharmacy in the northern community.

My Dad was a family doctor in Steinbach for four decades and during that time mentored a cadre of medical students helping them understand the potential and perks of working outside Winnipeg. He considered this a professional responsibility, helping to insure that younger doctors would be there to take care of his rural patients when he retired.

My niece is a social worker and loved her job as a counselor at a women’s shelter in a large city. But she and her husband, also a professional, simply could not afford to buy a home in the metro area, with its soaring house prices. So they moved to a much smaller rural community where they could purchase a house whose mortgage payments were within their budget. They both transferred to working primarily online. My niece had a full roster of people she counselled virtually, but as her rural neighbours learned about her therapeutic expertise they asked about possibly becoming clients. Now she rents some space locally to facilitate in-person appointments in her small community.

Whether it’s in social work, medicine, pharmacy, education or law, it is often the case that rural towns and cities find it more challenging to recruit and keep professionals living and working in their communities.

Invitations to visit, internships, financial incentives, rural practicum placements during university, and showcasing the advantages of rural life such as unique outdoor activities, more competitive housing prices, and appreciative clients and neighbours can help to change that.

I am watching the popular PBS television series All Creatures Great and Small. In the heart-warming drama a young veterinarian takes what he thinks is a temporary job in a small English village. He has hopes of entering a larger, more modern practice in his home city of Glasgow, Scotland one day. But when that offer finally materializes, he can’t leave his new rural home because he has become so attached to the people, scenery, and professional satisfaction he’s found.

Convincing young people to establish and maintain careers in rural communities isn’t just the stuff of fictional television programs. Towns and cities, like Steinbach, are finding creative and proactive ways to attract capable professionals. Those are efforts to be applauded and encouraged.