Serving rural patients, advocating for rural docs
WHY SHE WON As a rural family doctor in Golden, B.C., Dr. Trina Larsen Soles, 66, has spent her career serving the medical needs of her community. She has shown dedication to teaching and mentoring, guiding generations of medical students and residents as a clinical instructor and former site director for the rural residency program affiliated with the University of British Columbia’s department of family practice. Her dedication and leadership have had a profound impact on rural communities.
What one judge said…
“Dr. Trina Larsen Soles has focused her career on meeting the needs of rural Canadians. She is not just a skilled generalist family physician in Golden, B.C., but also a leader of Doctors of BC, a policy-shaper and a hard-working cheerful contributor, always looking for solutions to tough problems.”
On a national scale, Dr. Larsen Soles has been a trailblazer, serving as one of the first female presidents of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC) from 2004 to 2006. She has also been involved in various committees both at the Canadian Medical Association and Doctors of BC (all while living in a community with a three-hour drive-time to the nearest regional airport).
Over the past 36 years, Dr. Larsen Soles has persistently advocated for rural healthcare within these organizations, ensuring that the voice of rural physicians is heard.
She has played a pivotal role in promoting the vision of comprehensive, accessible healthcare close to home for all Canadians. Her work extends to patient services, transport models, medical education and health services planning.
- Q&A
Tell us how recognition—like the Medical Post Awards—helps community?
Every rural community is marginalized in some way. We struggle with access to services for our patients. Locally, we provide what we can with what resources we can, but distance is the issue. Shining a spotlight on that is important because most Canadians don’t think about it until they come here on holiday and get injured. They’re surprised that we don’t have a CT scanner or can’t call in the neonatologist for their preterm labour. Anything that spreads awareness of the challenges that are faced and affirms that, is important.
What do you love about what you do?
This is my 36th year in practice and last week when I worked I saw two completely new diagnoses! The variety and challenge of what you do in rural Canada is amazing. In my heyday, I was delivering babies, doing emergency, doing in-patient care, visiting people at the old folks’ home, doing house calls, running an office. Every day was different and every day was challenging. And when you’re here for a while, you build relationships with your patients in the community and that is invaluable. It’s so rewarding. I love what I do. That’s why I’m having trouble with this whole figuring-out-how-to-retire business!
What is a cause you’re passionate about now?
I have a couple of causes that I love that I’ve been working on. For SRPC, it has to do with rural patient transport. We’ve been looking at this nationally, but it’s challenging because delivery of transport is provincial and every single province struggles with this. How do you get an emergency patient out when you need to get them out and where’s your ambulance? Where’s your helicopter? Our valley fogs in the fall. Nothing can land here. So you have to put the patient in an ambulance—often with a physician—and drive to a place where the air is clear so somebody can pick them up. Identifying the commonalities across Canada has been our approach. We’re looking to highlight the innovative practices that people have developed in different provinces and share them and hopefully develop some solutions that’ll work.
Be the first to know when The Medical Post Awards open for nominations next year: Join the 2024 nominations waitlist on the Medical Post Awards website.