Crystal Ridge adds two new doctors

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Following a shortage of physicians, Crystal Ridge Family Medical Clinic recently joined other Strathmore-based practices and hired two new doctors to address the dearth and offer residents more options.
Dr. Aul and Dr. Senzani, general practitioners each with very specific interests, both accepted the positions in order to build closer relationships with their patients. While the community allows these doctors to showcase their expertise, their presence also helped address a concern prominent within the town until recently.
“It’s a great addition to the practice, but it’s a great addition to the community and that’s the big thing,” said Dr. Victor Avramenko with Crystal Ridge Family Medical Clinic.
“It’s just a reflection that there’s a number of forces at work. Number one there’s doctors that are wanting to relocate. Secondly, we’re going to have an increased number of family doctors coming out over the next year graduating, so the manpower issue is rectifying, correcting, itself. Patients aren’t going to have to wait lengthy times and will be able to get in easier. For years the doctors within the community worked really hard and now by having a few more doctors and spreading the workload around patients won’t be quite as rushed.”
Mesmerized by the Canadian Rockies during a tour last year, Dr. Nancy Aul, her husband, and her three-and-a-half-year-old twin girls, relocated to Alberta from England, UK. Dr. Aul attended medical school in India and completed her family medical training in the United Kingdom. After a decade of living in England, the family decided to travel and chose to find work in Canada.
Having only been hired two weeks ago, Aul joined the practice with special interests in treating patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, and asthma. She also specializes in women and reproductive health.
“I believe in a traditional family practice doctor-patient relationship, so I want to spend time with my patients, I want to know them,” said Aul.
“These chronic conditions are everywhere, and they affect patients’ lives in a significant way. Modern medicine has made it easier to manage them. You need to make sure that you are treated for it. Especially women, they do a lot of work, they look after their children, and it’s their physician’s responsibility to provide them with good healthcare.”
Four months ago, the practice also hired Dr. Senzani, a former emergency doctor and general practitioner in Saskatchewan for the past four years. The Zimbabwe native and father of an almost two-year-old and with another on the way, received his education in South Africa and has eight years of clinical practice. He’s spent time in a hospital, and a year in Botswana as a medical officer where he honed his skills in surgery, obstetrics, internal medicine, paediatrics, and emergency room.
“One day my wife and I were sitting down and we thought we would like to see more of each other, so we looked for family-based practices and Canada was the best place,” said Dr. Senzani.
“I love my patients. I like learning about people. You cross paths with people multiple times and never know what makes them unique. The ability to help them, I think, is a very special thing. So that’s why I keep at general practice. Try and do a little bit for everyone.”
Crystal Ridge Family Medical Clinic is one of several clinics in Strathmore that recently hired new doctors to their team. Dr. Aul and Dr. Senzani are accepting new patients.