A newly graduated student of medicine is making her way to Fort St. John in the coming days.
Dr. Jessica Hatcher recently graduated from the University of British Columbia’s northern medical program at UNBC in Prince George. Hatcher is one of 31 graduates from the Class of 2022 and only one of 10 from the north.
“I’ve always been interested in the sciences,” says Hatcher, who has lived in Prince George since she was six. “My mom was a nurse, so I spent a lot of time at the hospital and seeing her and her co-workers caring for patients really inspired me to become involved in health care. Really learning about people’s environment and how it impacts their health was always interesting to me.”
“When my mom was working in the hospital, we would wait after school for a ride home. We would come over where she worked, at the cancer centre. We would be in the break room waiting and would see things happening around us.”
The ‘we’ reference, Hatcher explains, was her older and younger sister. An avid violinist, she would sometimes play for the cancer patients, even teaching one of her mother’s co-workers to play the instrument.
While some of her classmates are looking at specializing in areas like gynecology, psychiatry, or rehabilitation, Hatcher says she’d like to focus on general medicine, possibly becoming a rural family doctor and a voice for health care in the north.
“It’s something I became interested in even before going to medical school. My undergraduate degree was really those social determinants of health and understanding people’s environments. Barriers that people have accessing care, more general medicine," says Hatcher.
“How that can be improved and how I can help to advocate for northern and rural communities that face those challenges,” she adds. “That’s my big motivator in being in smaller communities, learning how I can improve the care they receive and address the disparities that we have.”
Even with medical residencies available across the province, the life-long northerner knew she wanted to complete her training close to home in a rural setting.
Enter Fort St. John.
“When I looked into the program, and talked to the directors and (medical) residents, it really stood out as a close and connected medical community. I heard very positive things and it felt like a good fit for me.”
Hatcher will spend the next two years in the area splitting her time between a patient clinic and the hospital, where she’ll receive training in the different specialties.
She admits she’s never been to Fort St. John.
“That’s just part of the reason why my partner and I are really excited to be coming up and finding new places to explore. We’ve heard nothing but great things. So, we’re ready to see what you guys have up there,” says the future family doctor.
Hatcher admits she loves nature when asked what she likes to do in her spare time – backpacking and canoeing listed as two of her favourite past times.
“I haven’t done too much cycling but we’ve heard from some other medical students that road biking in Fort St. John is a big deal, so we’ve been practicing.”
We can’t wait to meet you, Doc!
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