SWITCH DOCTORS OF TOMORROW
HELPING SHAPE THE
By Maria Ryhorski | Photo credit to University of Saskatchewan
F
or Reed Gillanders, first year medical student at the University of Saskatchewan and five year veteran volunteer
at SWITCH (Student Wellness Initiative Toward Community
Health), working at SWITCH has helped him grow “from a
naïve 18 year old into a future health professional with a
great deal of potential.” He credits working at this volunteerdriven, inner city clinic with teaching him to be a better
communicator and advocate for patients, as well as giving
him insight into the social determinants of health.
Currently the clinic is host to about 400 student volunteers
from a variety of disciplines including medicine, nursing,
pharmacy and social work, each supervised and mentored
by professionals in their field. Previously it operated three
shifts per week, however, due to a lack of funding, the clinic,
which provides interdisciplinary, non-emergent, after-hours
care for Saskatoon’s Riversdale community, has already had
to cut one of its three weekly shifts to maintain a balanced
budget. If SWITCH does not receive more stable funding,
this opportunity to learn in a hands-on setting and make a
difference in the community will be lost to many students,
to say nothing of the negative impact on the community.
As it is there are more volunteers who want to get involved
than opportunities for them to work says Reed, who joined
the SWITCH board three years ago to help create sustainability for the project. And it’s not hard to see why opportunities to volunteer are in such high demand. SWITCH offers a
unique oppor [