Nearing her mid-40s, Rae Kamstra is among hundreds of students graduating from UBC’s medical school this spring.
In her late 30s, Rae Kamstra made a momentous decision that would change not only her life, but her family’s too. Then a mother of three and a personal fitness trainer, Rae decided to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor, one she first had almost two decades earlier.
“Shortly after high school, I considered medical school for the first time and started taking college courses,” says Rae, who was then living in Williams Lake. “But I didn’t really believe it could actually be a possibility for me, so when things became difficult, I gave it up.”
She moved to Prince George in the mid-90s with her husband and started a family soon after. When one of her children developed significant health challenges, Rae found herself suddenly and quickly learning about the world of medicine — from the patient perspective. And her experiences helped to shape her future as a health practitioner.
“Prior to medical school, all of my interactions with the health system had been as a patient and as the mother of a patient,” explains Rae. “I really feel that the patient point of view is my first language. As a doctor, I will never forget what if felt like to be the parent of someone who needed medical help and that others had control over the resources I needed, and how challenging it was at times to find the right words to access those.”
In 2010, the medical challenges their family faced outgrew their limited resources and they needed to enlist help outside their home.
“Emotionally, I was quite low during that time, and in thinking about where I was going to put my focus moving forward, medicine was one of the very few things that sparked an interest in me.”
“I spoke to my husband about it and I’ve always said that the biggest miracle of this story is that he said ‘go for it’!” explains Rae. “His support was invaluable because it was a huge undertaking for our family.”
This July, Dr. Kamstra will be embarking on the next stage of her journey as a UBC family medicine resident based in Prince George.
And the path ahead would not be an easy one.
“I had to start from scratch,” explains Rae. “I did three years of biochemistry at the University of Northern British Columbia, while still working part-time with a family. When I finally had the credits to apply for medical school, it was terrifying. I felt I had invested a lot and had asked so much of my loved ones.”
“When I was accepted, I felt so relieved. And also very excited about what it meant for our future.”
In the fall of 2013, Rae entered the Northern Medical Program (NMP), a distributed site of UBC’s MD undergraduate program (delivered in partnership with UNBC), and her preferred location for study.
“If the program wasn’t based in Prince George, I would never have even considered medical school,” notes Rae. “Moving wasn’t really a possibility for us.”
“I also loved what the NMP had to offer with smaller preceptor-to-learner ratios than the larger learning sites and with access to so many doctors on a one-to-one basis.”
Now at the end of her medical undergraduate studies, Rae is looking back with an appreciation for the journey so far.
“It’s one of those things where you take the leap, understanding that you don’t entirely know what you are getting into. It was definitely hard work, but exhilarating at the same time. In the end, I had been expecting it to be challenging, and it was, but I loved it. It has been an awesome four years of learning.”
Heading into a two-year family medicine residency in Prince George beginning this July, Rae is excited about going into a specialty that speaks to her desire to work in rural practice.
“I loved my rural medicine rotation training. It was, for me, an ideal mix of medicine, where you can have a family practice and get to know your patients, while also still being able to work in urgent care, such as the ER. You really have the freedom to pursue avenues of medicine that fit your personality and your strengths, whereas in bigger centres, family doctors may not always have that opportunity.”
“Eventually, once our kids have moved away from home, my husband and I would like to settle in a more rural area, as I really enjoyed that practice experience. I look forward to this next chapter in my medical training and building my expertise in rural medicine.”