To better understand what it means to practise in rural communities, medical students from Western University spent four days working alongside health-care professionals in Leamington in May. Yvonne Bauer, a staff nurse at Erie Shores Hospital, says the experience is important because health care is different in rural areas. “In the city, for an MRI, you have to go down two floors. In rural settings, you have to go 45 minutes for an MRI,” she says. During the visit, students shadowed Bauer and other health-care providers to learn about the nuances of rural care, such as the close bond between patients and practitioners. The experience was part of a placement called the 21st Discovery Week, which takes place at the end of the first year for all undergraduate students in Western’s school of medicine and dentistry. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, six million Canadians live in rural and remote communities, making up almost 20 per cent of the population. (Kingsville Reporter, May 28)