Learning with communities
Learning with communities
Serving rural and regional communities
Rural and regional communities play a critical role in healthcare across southern Alberta. Many communities across the region face ongoing physician shortages and rely on physicians who provide care across a wide range of settings, from community clinics to regional hospitals.
By training medical learners within these communities, SAMP helps students develop an understanding of the realities of practicing medicine in rural and regional environments. Students learn directly from physicians and healthcare teams who serve these communities every day, building relationships with patients and communities while gaining experience across a broad spectrum of medical practice.
Indigenous learning
The program also recognizes the importance of understanding the unique health contexts of Indigenous communities across the region. Providing respectful and responsive medical care requires an awareness of how the impacts of colonialism and historical injustices continue to shape experiences with healthcare systems today.
SAMP aims to foster relationships with Indigenous communities, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and healthcare professionals whose knowledge and lived experience help guide how future physicians understand care, community, and responsibility. When Indigenous perspectives are reflected in medical education, students gain insight that cannot be learned from textbooks alone and develop skills that support more thoughtful and equitable care for all patients.
Community partnerships
Physicians and healthcare professionals across southern Alberta contribute to SAMP through teaching, mentorship, and clinical supervision.
These partnerships ensure students gain meaningful clinical experiences while supporting the long-term goal of strengthening healthcare access across rural communities.
Community Engaged Learning
Community Engaged Learning (CEL) is an integrated component of the SAMP curriculum. Through CEL, students connect medical education with the communities where health and care take place.
Working with organizations across southern Alberta, students gain insight into the social, cultural, and community contexts that influence health and wellbeing. These experiences take place alongside students’ academic and clinical learning, helping them understand how community environments shape patient experiences and health outcomes.
Community Placements
Students engage with organizations across southern Alberta through longitudinal placements that run alongside their clinical training.
Guided Reflection
Learning is supported through structured reflection and faculty mentorship that help students connect their community experiences with clinical knowledge and patient care. These reflections encourage learners to consider how community context shapes health outcomes, care experiences, and clinical decision-making.
Learning in Context
Community Engaged Learning helps students understand health beyond the clinic or hospital. By working with organizations that support community wellbeing, learners gain a broader perspective on the systems, environments, and resources that influence health in everyday life.