Residency Program

The Family Medicine Residency in Neepawa started in July 2024 and is the next step in a long tradition of medical education in our community. 

This Residency is part of the Department of Family Medicine at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba.  Jenna Kilburn is the Program Administrator and is affectionately known as the "den mother."  Dr. Brian Milligan is the Education Director, but all of the clinic physicians actively participate in the program.

Residents are physicians in the final stages of training before independent practice.  Each year, we accept 3 residents into the program.  The residency is two years long.  Applicants come from medical schools across Canada and around the world, and have a keen interest in rural family medicine.  Residents maintain a home base in Neepawa, but they spend approximately half of each year in Winnipeg or Brandon gaining experience in various specialties.  Each resident is paired up with a primary preceptor, a local physician with a University appointment, but ends up spending time with all the Neepawa physicians as they gain experience in the hospital, emergency room, operating room, obstetrics, and personal care home, in addition to their time at the Beautiful Plains Community Medical Clinic.  Residents try to integrate into our community with what little free time they have.  

There are many benefits to having a residency program at our clinic.  First of all, residents are at the forefront of medical knowledge.  Physicians who teach and train are constantly updating their knowledge base and frequently report that they learn as much from their students as the students learn from them. 

This means patients in teaching practices get the most up-to-date care.  Secondly, being associated with the University of Manitoba helps maintain positive relationships with various specialists, which helps patients in Neepawa be referred to the highest level of specialist care when they need it.  Thirdly, it is well-established that communities involved with medical education have the most success with recruitment and retention of physicians.  Many of Neepawa's current physicians had some of their medical education in Neepawa.

In addition to our own residency program, the physicians at the Beautiful Plains Community Medical Clinic continue to train residents from other programs for month-long rural rotations and they frequently teach medical students at various stages of their four-year medical degree.  Feedback from patients and from medical learners has been overwhelmingly positive and our physicians have won a number of teaching awards. 

We are grateful to our community for being so welcoming to medical learners. Let's continue this tradition of excellence in medical education!

If you want to learn more about residents, please visit the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Manitoba, or the Professional Association of Residents and Interns of Manitoba.

Meet Our Residents

  • EMMA BALL

    Hi! I’m Emma Ball – your friendly R2 lead resident! I have been so honoured to be part of the Neepawa Family Medicine Residency Program.

    I grew up in Neepawa, living here between the ages of 2 and 13 before moving to Brandon where I completed high school. I did my undergrad at the University of Winnipeg, majoring in Biology and shortly after, started my medical school at the University of Manitoba. I was lucky enough to spend a rotation in Neepawa as a 3rd year medical student, which helped confirm to me how much I love the community and the rural medicine that is practiced there. I am so unbelievably proud to have been one of the first residents in the program and have benefited immensely from the hands-on and varied opportunities afforded here.

    Outside of medicine, I am a lover of reading, horror movies, singing, and enjoy the outdoors during our few but beautiful warm days. I also have a cat named Wilbur to whom I am devoted! Looking forward to another year in Neepawa!

  • GABRIELEN ALVERO

    Hello! My name is Gabrielen Alvero, and I’m a family medicine resident in the Rural Neepawa Program.

    I was born and raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. I later moved to California, where I earned my Bachelor of Science in Biology from Pacific Union College before pursuing my medical degree in the Philippines at the University of the East – Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center. Throughout my education, basketball was a big part of my life—I played competitively through to the collegiate level.

    I have a special interest in low-risk obstetrics and elderly care, and I’m passionate about providing comprehensive, patient-centered care in a close-knit rural community.

    Outside of medicine, I enjoy baking sweets, writing food reviews and spending time with my partner, James. You can often find us running at the track, shooting hoops, or playing a competitive game of pickleball.

    I look forward to being part of your health journey.

  • SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN

    Hi! My name is Sydney McLaughlin and I am so excited to be returning to the Beautiful Plains Medical Clinic as part of the Neepawa Residency Program. 

    I grew up in Neepawa and graduated from NACI in 2017. Since then, I have been in Winnipeg obtaining my Bachelor of Science (2021) and my Doctor of Medicine degrees (2025) from the University of Manitoba. During my time in the city I have been returning home for the summers to work. You may recognize me from the clinic where I worked as a summer student in 2021 and 2022, as well as from Country Meadows or the COVID-19 vaccine clinics where I worked in 2020. I also previously helped with the Town of Neepawa Day Camp program way back in 2018 and 2019.

    In my free time I love spending time with my partner, Jake, and my dog, Randall. I also love to travel to the lake whenever possible and spend time with all our other family and friends. I am looking forward to getting home and spending time in Neepawa and meeting everyone, whether that be clinic or the community.

  • RITU PATEL

    Hi! My name is Ritu Patel, and I am thrilled to join the team at Beautiful Plains Community Medical Clinic as I begin my journey in Family Medicine with the Neepawa Residency Program.

    I am an International Medical Graduate from India and pursued my medical degree at Odessa National Medical University in Ukraine. Following graduation, I returned to India, where I cultivated five years of comprehensive clinical experience, managing a wide spectrum of patient care in both hospital and community settings before relocating to Canada.

    My husband and I are relocating to Neepawa from Toronto, Ontario, and I am really looking forward to making this wonderful town our new home. In my free time, I enjoy reading, exploring nature, and spending time with family and friends!

    I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be part of this community and can’t wait to meet everyone.

  • ENAS ALHARETHI

    Hello, my name is Enas Alharethi. I come from Dhi As Sufal, a small rural village in Yemen with a population of just 1,500. My roots are in a farming family that has grown coffee and fruits for generations. I pursued my medical education in Saudi Arabia, graduating in 2015 in the top 10% of my class. I then moved to Chicago, USA, where I completed a year of clinical clerkships, followed by a Master of Science degree at the University of Nottingham in 2019. My clinical experience spans across Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Canada.

    I am deeply passionate about patient advocacy, patient-centred care, and fostering strong, trusting relationships with the individuals and families I serve. Outside of medicine, I am a proud mother to beautiful triplets. I love the outdoors and enjoy hiking, biking, discovering new places, and spending time with loved ones.

    Choosing to work in a rural setting reflects both my personal and professional values. I appreciate the hands-on, community-focused nature of rural practice, and I want my children to grow up surrounded by nature in a slower-paced, grounded lifestyle. I’m truly excited to be part of the clinic team and look forward to contributing to the health and well-being of the Neepawa community.