Cathy Dobson/The Independent

Six new doctors with connections to Lambton County are receiving a combined $43,000 from the Norma and Don Moore Scholarship Fund this year.

In 2017, the Oil Springs farmer set up the $1 million fund with the Sarnia Community Foundation in his late wife’s name. Moore passed away in 2022 but the interest from the fund continues to help support the education of several doctors or nurse practitioners every year.

“If dad were here, he’d be thrilled,” said daughter Janice Fuller who lives in Arkona now. She was joined by family members at a cheque presentation held at the East Lambton Community Complex in Watford Friday.

“Dad would have really been happy to hear these people are planning on being doctors in our community,” Fuller said. “I am amazed at the commitment and the years of study that have to go into it.”

This year’s recipients include Nubia Mehecha Castro who is in a family medicine residency; Jordan LeSarge, an endocrinology fellow and intends to return to Sarnia to practise; Jack Soeder grew up in Sarnia and is a third-year orthopedic resident currently doing a rotation at Bluewater Health; Siobhan Taylor LeSarge, originally from Sarnia, is in a family medicine residency in Mount Brydges and intends to return to Sarnia; Jocelynn De Koning, is living in Watford and just finished her family medicine residency in Petrolia; and Dr. Shahbaz Malik, who finished school and set up a family practice in Sarnia eight months ago with the Rapids Family Health Team.

“This scholarship has real benefit and I am grateful,” said Dr. Malik, 30, who grew up in Toronto but established a practice in Sarnia, his wife’s hometown. They now have a 19-month-old son.

Ten years of education to become a family doctor creates a “significant” debt load. “This takes some of the load off,” said Dr. Malik.

Canadian medical schools charge about $25,000 a year for tuition and the program is so demanding that most can’t work on the side to help pay bills. Many doctors graduate at least $200,000 in debt. It can easily be more if part of their studies was in the US.

Yet, Canadians need many more doctors and nurse practitioners, especially in rural regions like Sarnia-Lambton.

Dr. Malik said that he was overwhelmed with 1,000 applicants when he began his practice in Sarnia. 

Applications had to be cut off, he said, but they have since been re-opened and he is accepting more patients. 

“Things are going well.  I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

Ideally, scholarship recipients practice in Sarnia-Lambton but it isn’t mandatory, said Mike Barron, executive director of the Sarnia Community Foundation, which screens the applicants and confers with the Moore family about who is chosen.

Since the scholarship was established in 2018, $276,000 has been awarded in total.