Sudbury's hospital, Health Sciences North, recently welcomed 25 new medical residents.

They have completed medical school and are officially doctors, but now must complete a two to five-year residency.

Dr. Kara Nadeau is one of those new residents. She says she knew the word 'appendicitis' before most other words in her vocabulary. That's why it was no surprise when she decided to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a physician. Dr. Michele Brule is Nadeau's mother, who is a general surgeon in Sudbury.

"My introduction to general surgery was really early. My mother is a general surgeon here in Sudbury and so I've been coming into the hospital in and out since I was a baby. Kind of seeing these patients from the beginning to the end of their journeys, and it's really given me an appreciation for what it means to kind of intervene in such a dramatic way and change someone's life," said Nadeau.

She started her residency at HSN in July after completing medical school at University of Ottawa.

The new group of residents come from medical schools all across the country, including Sudbury's Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

Nadeau says she feels medical residents get a unique experience in Sudbury because it is a smaller group, allowing for more one-on-one time with patients, fellow residents, and veteran physicians.

"The residency training is really like an apprenticeship. I think it's really important to have good training, because you develop good skills, both clinical- surgical, which makes you a better physician. So, I think the training is very important, just like in any other specialty or any other profession," said Brule.

And medical residents aren't the only ones who benefit from the program; doctors say patients do as well.

Dr. Dominique Ansell is an emergency department physician at HSN.

"That expedites their care, as well as the time to be seen, because there are more of us seeing them. They're also getting a very thorough experience because residents are extremely thorough and they're at the top of their learning," said Ansell.

Doctors at the hospital say not only do the medical residents improve patient care, but the program also increases research in the north.

Dr. Ansell says the partnership between NSOM and HSN has allowed for more doctors to come to the north for a residency, and ultimately stay in northern Ontario to practice.