I’m not just a doctor, I’m their doctor

Dr. Danelle Lanouette’s passion is evident – and infectious – as she talks about building a practice, growing her family, and finding a community that clearly appreciates her work and contributions to the local health facility and population.
“Having access to health care is one of the social determinants of health and also a key component of thriving rural communities,” said Dr. Lanoutte who has worked in a variety of roles in the southern Manitoba community of Ste. Anne since completing her family medicine residency in 2014. “This is my community now. My family has planted our roots here so I’m doing what I can to ensure services continue to be available, that the town can grow and thrive, and that this remains a great place for us to live.”
Originally from Lorette, Dr. Lanouette left Manitoba to study medicine en français at Université de Sherbrook in Quebec after completing an undergraduate degree at Université de Saint-Boniface. Educated entirely in French, she was excited about the opportunity to do a bilingual residency program, particularly one that offered rotations through urban and rural practice, a component of the University of Manitoba’s Rady Faculty of Medicine’s Family Medicine Bilingual program.
“When I was in the urban portion of my family residency I actually considered a change,” said Dr. Lanouette. “I was looking for more variety in my practice than I saw in that urban experience, but when I got to the rural medicine portion, it was clear right away that rural practice was for me. The breadth of what you can do in rural medicine is HUGE. Prenatal care, obstetrics, minor procedures, palliative care, clinic work, emergency department shifts, nursing home supports, it was all available.”
When Lanouette first arrived in Ste. Anne in 2014 she did it all, working at the local medical clinic, in the hospital as a hospitalist, and in the emergency department and supporting obstetrics, as well as seeing residents at the local personal care home. As she grew in her practice, Dr. Lanouette and husband Alain also grew a family, with three children now aged 6, 5 and 3.
“As life progressed I did pull back in some areas, to focus on managing the schedule and supporting the delivery of care at the hospital and in clinic, but I do still add my name to holes in the schedule and work in clinic on my days off,” she said. “I have to give props to my husband and our extended family. I could not do what I do if it wasn’t for them and the support of the community. My kids understand my work and they feel my absence, but they also understand that what I’m doing is important.”
“This is what rural medicine is, I’m doing my part and I feel lots of love and very supported,” she added.
As a Francophone physician, Dr. Lanouette has embraced the opportunity to practice in a community where she is able to offer care to patients in their primary language and where her children can attend a French school.
“There is something special in rural Manitoba, the sense of community is very much a reality here,” said Dr. Lanouette. “But Ste. Anne is also a French community so those connections, the ability to express myself and provide care in French, the French school located across the street from where I work, these things make it even more tight knit. It feels like home.”
Over the course of her 10 years living and working in Ste. Anne, Dr. Lanouette has seen and experienced first-hand the close connections that exist between physicians and patients in small communities.
“My patients still talk about the physicians who were here before me, but they now look to me. Even though we are so close to Winnipeg, our patients want to be seen here and that broadens our scope of practice and allows us to build really close bonds,” she said. “As a rural physician, you are so involved in the lives of your patients, they trust you and come to you for answers and to address challenges they are experiencing.” “The impact that we are able to make is enormous. I’m not just a doctor, I’m their doctor.”
Dr. Danelle Lanouette and her family have lived in Ste. Anne, Manitoba since 2014 when she graduated from the family medicine residency program offered through the University of Manitoba Rady Faculty of Medicine. As a family physician practicing in rural Manitoba, Dr. Lanouette is a passionate advocate for the diverse opportunities rural physicians have to deliver true cradle to grave care.
Submitted by: Shared Health Manitoba