Meet Dr. Leslie Meloche! She works as a family doctor in Abbotsford and is one of the 1500+ valued preceptors across the province who dedicate time, energy, and thought to supporting UBC Family Practice residents. She’s also a graduate of the UBC Abbotsford-Mission Family Practice Residency program! This week she shares with us her insights on teaching and learning as one of our new community preceptors.
Who do you teach?
I currently “teach” one family practice resident. This is my first year being a co-preceptor for the family practice residents. As I am fairly new to practice, I had little experience with teaching residents or medical students in the past. I emphasize “teach” as that implies that I am the only one imparting knowledge. However, I feel that most days teaching is reciprocal and occurs on many more levels than just preceptor to resident. I am constantly learning as well, not only from the residents, but also from my patients, colleagues, staff and my family.
What inspired you to teach?
Honestly, I had not yet reached a point in my medicine career where I felt inspired to teach (probably because I felt I was still learning and had little wisdom to share with others). I was given a gentle nudge to become a preceptor in the program.
Who was the educator that had the most impact on you and why?
I have had so many great educators that it is hard to name just one. But I do remember a rural family doc in Alberta that I encountered in medical school. He was so excited about family medicine. He would share cases of all the interesting pathology that he would see, but then put it in the context of the patient’s life. You could tell he really valued the relationships he had with his patients and how much more interesting his work was because of this. I think this really highlighted the reason I chose family medicine as a career over other specialties.
As a new preceptor, what’s your best piece of advice to those making the transition from practice to preceptorship?
Just do it and don’t be afraid. You actually do have wisdom and experience to share, despite what you might think.
If you could change one thing in our healthcare system overnight, what would it be and why?
A universal provincial electronic medical! So that we could all communicate effectively with one another to improve efficiency and provide better care.
Thank you Dr. Meloche! Meet Dr. Jeff Kornelsen next!
#MeetOurPreceptors
UBC Family Practice Residency Program: Abbotsford-Mission Site 