Local med school grad pursuing rural practice

Every year before she started school, Jade Dittaro’s parents would ask her what she wanted to be when she grew up.
And each year since she was three years old, the former Fort Frances resident would give the same answer: a doctor.

But it was an incident back in 2001, when Dittaro was 17, that really cemented her medical career goal.
She was working as a lifeguard at the Memorial Sports Centre here when a near-drowning of a four-year-old boy occurred.
“I had to perform CPR and resuscitate him,” she recalled.
“It was actually that moment that made me realize that not only did I want to be a doctor, but I had the potential to do it and I can withstand the really high-stress situations.
“I found it to be a really rewarding field,” Dittaro added, citing that incident as her defining moment.
“From there on out, I was pretty determined to pursue medical school.”
And that determination paid off as she realized her lifelong dream earlier this month, becoming “Dr. Dittaro” upon graduating from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
“It’s pretty surreal,” conceded the new grad, who just arrived in Kelowna, B.C. to begin the next chapter of her life as a resident in a two-year family medicine program at the University of British Columbia.
Dittaro noted it was a long road to get to where she is today.
Upon graduating from Fort Frances High School, she attended the University of Western Ontario, completing an honors specialization in biology.
From there she applied to med school and was accepted at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, where she attended the four-year program at the Thunder Bay campus.
“It was an adventure,” she said of med school. “‘Different’ is the best way to describe the whole experience.
“It’s a really new school with an innovative program,” she explained. “Lots of hands-on work.
“Learning was completely different than my undergraduate training,” she remarked. “Everything is really group-focused and very independent.
“It was a bit of a roller-coaster, but it was to be expected,” Dittaro added. “I think because of the way the program is formatted, it ends up making us really strong clinically.”
NOSM’s program includes field work for the med students with placements around the region.
Dittaro spent eight months in Sioux Lookout, as well as shorter periods in Whitefish Bay (Naotkamegwanning), Emo, and Red Lake.
It’s working in rural communities that she enjoys, with her residency program to focus on rural family medicine.
“I’ve definitely stuck with the theme that NOSM has set forth for us,” she noted, indicating the school puts a strong emphasis on preparing students for work in small, rural communities.
“I do believe in rural training,” she stressed. “I think it really is challenging at times, but if you are prepared to be completely alone in a situation or with just one doctor to back you up, then it’s great.
“And it allows you to really play up your strengths and to improve you weaknesses quickly because you don’t have a lot of support,” she reasoned.
“And I do really enjoy working with under-serviced populations,” added Dittaro, saying her time in Sioux Lookout really made her appreciate what they lack and showed her that she had the capability to provide for them.
She doesn’t know where she’ll end up following her residency, but Dittaro said she certainly sees herself working in a smaller community—anything from the size of Thunder Bay or as small as Emo.
Besides her two-year rural family medicine residency, she also is considering pursuing a third-year focused on emergency medicine.
“I do have that option to apply for a third year and then work strictly in an emergency setting,” she explained.
“I find the [emergency room] is a really good fit for me.”
Dittaro thinks the emergency department is one place where people feel they are not really well-listened to.
“One of my strengths that I think I have is my ability to listen and communicate, and I find to be able to do that in that setting while you are dealing with emergency or urgent situations is really important,” she remarked.
While in high school, Dittaro originally had expected to pursue general surgery and had done a co-op placement at La Verendrye Hospital here, with a portion of that placement spent in the operating room.
“It really piqued my interest,” she said, noting she also spent more time in the O.R. between her first and second year and between her second and third year of med school.
She worked primarily under Dr. Barry Anderson.
“He had a really strong influence, not only on my desire to pursue general surgery but just my love of medicine in general,” Dittaro noted.
“It was a big decision not to go into it, but he’s definitely a mentor and the whole team there was absolutely wonderful to work with.”
And while continuing to look out for the hospital that helped reinforce her love of medicine, Dittaro has been talking to residents about working in Fort Frances and trying to help with recruiting—even though she will be spending the next few years in Kelowna and doesn’t have plans at this point to return to the area.
Her parents, Pat and Donna, recently relocated to Kelowna, as well, and her fiancé, Jeff Lundy, already has been working in the northern part of the province.
The couple also has purchased a house there.
“It’s really awesome that I get to start this new adventure,” Dittaro enthused, saying everything has fallen into place.
And she really encourages all students, especially those interested in med school, to follow their dreams.
“There can be a lot of people that might not be supportive and make you feel that you can’t do it,” she warned. “But if you have the idea in your head that you want to go into medicine, there should be nothing that stops you.
“It’s a great field and I truly believe that if anybody wants to do it, they can.”
Fortunately, Dittaro had plenty of support from her friends and family, and she thanks them for helping her reach her goal.
“There were some days that I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, what have I gotten into?’” she admitted.
“And it was the encouragement from my friends and family that pushed me to keep going.”