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Faculty of Health student finds clinical focus with financial relief

When Cameron Nolter鈥檚 car failed on the way to his clinical placement in New Glasgow, a School of Health Sciences Clinical Placement Bursary helped save the day.
A man with brown hair and a beard stands in a hospital hallway

笔辞蝉迟别诲:听December 7, 2023

By: Sal Sawler

Faculty of Health聽student聽Cameron Nolter聽began looking into respiratory therapy programs after he heard about the surge in demand from neighbour who teaches ultrasound technology. The opportunity to fill a need appealed to him 鈥 and so did the flexibility of being able to choose between a critical or community care setting. But his decision was cemented when his grandfather had an accident that necessitated respiratory therapy.聽

鈥淚 got to see the impact respiratory therapists can have on your family first-hand,鈥 says Nolter. 鈥淪o when I was accepted, I was pretty excited.鈥

Nolter鈥檚 academic journey has come with challenges 鈥 but he鈥檚 proven to be remarkably resilient. Now in his second year of his聽Respiratory Therapy program聽in the聽School of Health Sciences, he was initially waitlisted, but instead of taking a gap year, Nolter enrolled in as many relevant courses as possible. The following year, he successfully transferred into the program. 鈥淢y first year was a lot,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut it was very interesting. I knew this is what I really wanted to do.鈥

Transportation trouble

In May 2023, Nolter began an eight-week clinical practicum at Aberdeen Regional Hospital in New Glasgow. While many students hope to be placed within the more urban areas of Halifax Regional Municipality, Nolter chose a rural community because it felt like his hometown of Enfield. Housing, however, was hard to come by, so he had to stay on 黄色直播鈥檚 Agricultural Campus in Truro 鈥 which resulted in a commute of almost an hour and a half each day.聽

鈥淭hen right before clinical started, my car鈥檚 engine blew up,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o then I had to borrow my parents鈥 vehicle, which meant I had to come home on the weekends. I ended up spending a lot of money on gas, but also accommodations and food.鈥

Then Nolter found out there was a School of聽Health Sciences Clinical Placement Bursary. The bursary, which is fully supported by 黄色直播 Fund donors,聽helps students offset costs associated with completing placements or practicums in remote or underserved communities. He was awarded the bursary partway through his clinical practicum.聽鈥淚t really made a big impact for me,鈥 he says. 鈥淜nowing that I didn鈥檛 have to worry about $500 gave me such a huge sense of relief.鈥

With some of his stress alleviated, Nolter was able to completely focus on gaining clinical experience.聽 鈥淚 really enjoyed being at a smaller rural site because it was very personalized,鈥 he says. 鈥淣ew Glasgow only gets one student a year, so I got a lot of opportunities to develop my skills.鈥

Prioritizing patient care

When Nolter reflects back, it鈥檚 the patient care experience that stands out. 鈥淢y preceptor was really great,鈥 he says. 鈥淪he went out of her way to buy this one person a piece of pie at a local market, because they just loved having pie,鈥 he says. 鈥淎nd that was one of the last things that they really enjoyed while they were there. She really introduced me to the fact that although I鈥檓 going to be a respiratory therapist with specific duties, I can still go out of my way to make sure the patient experience is as positive as possible.鈥澛

Working at a remote hospital gave Nolter plenty of opportunity to develop his patient care skills. 鈥淚 got to sit down and speak with each individual patient,鈥 he says. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e learning so much science, sometimes you lose sight of the impact you could have on someone鈥檚 life 鈥 but you鈥檙e seeing a lot of people in some of their hardest moments.鈥