As a medical student, I am constantly thinking about what I can do to make the healthcare system better for myself and my future patients. Over the past year, I had the privilege of completing a community placement with Quint, learning about the organization’s impact and witnessing its initiatives firsthand. This experience has broadened my understanding of what healthcare truly is and what improvements to the system can look like. Meaningful change starts long before someone enters a hospital or clinic, and healthcare improvements are most effective when they involve listening to communities, addressing root causes, and supporting organizations that are already championing these initiatives.

Before starting my community placement, I had never heard of Quint, and the concept of a social enterprise was foreign to me. Fortunately, since then, I’ve learned much more about the Saskatoon core neighbourhoods the organization strives to support and the meaningful, innovative ways it does so. Coming from a public health background, I have a relatively good
understanding of the social determinants of health and the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. These topics have come up often throughout my education, but witnessing their
impact on people’s daily lives has been entirely different. During my time with Quint, I visited two transitional homes, Pleasant Hill Place and Youth Lodge, and spent time at Build Up, Quint’s Work Integration Social Enterprise. I had the chance to connect with residents and
employees whose lives have been directly affected by these social determinants. Hearing their stories clarified how crucial housing, employment, and social support are to health and wellbeing. I saw how access to stability and opportunity through Quint’s programs is helping
individuals build or rebuild their lives in ways that no prescription or procedure ever could.

The stories I heard also helped to emphasize two very important lessons. First, the importance of
taking a team approach to healthcare. While talking with the individuals in Quint’s programs, I realized how little I could contribute at that point. Despite my growing knowledge of health and
medicine, it was not necessarily what the individuals I met needed. Instead, they needed what community organizations could provide: housing, job support, stability, and someone who could
meet them where they were. This realization reiterated why collaborating with community organizations like Quint is so essential. Secondly, I learnt about the importance of trauma-informed care. Many of the individuals I met had experienced some form of trauma, and as a
future physician, I need to be able to provide what they need when they need it, creating safe spaces, validating experiences, being mindful of triggers, and avoiding judgment.

Recognizing my own privilege has been an important part of this experience. I have had the opportunity to pursue years (and years) of post-secondary education and have had access to both financial and emotional support while doing so. In just a few years, I will be a physician, a role that is associated with power, privilege and responsibility. This role will give me a voice, allowing me to advocate for my patients not only in medical settings but also through efforts to influence municipal and provincial policies that will help address the other barriers my patients
face, hopefully, creating systemic change.
My experience with Quint has made a lasting impression on me. As I continue with my training, I will carry the lessons I’ve learned from Quint, and they will influence my future as a physician.

–Haley Scheck