NMP students organize Prince George Papapalooza to help save lives
NMP Class of 2025 students Bailey Eberherr, Michaela Kelly and Hannah Le Bouder helped bring a very special healthcare event, co-created by an NMP graduate, to Prince George in early June.
Papapalooza, developed by Dr. Kristi Kyle and NMP Class of 2016 grad Dr. Christine Layton, is a national initiative which seeks to bring Pap smears to individuals who otherwise lack access to this screening. Pap tests are an essential component of preventative health care for people with a cervix.
“As a medical student, I have been learning how important cervical cancer screening is for preventative healthcare,” explains Bailey. “However, growing up in Prince George, I have heard many times how difficult it is to find a primary care provider. So when I learned that Papapalooza wanted to expand to include the North, I knew how important this could be for the people up here and I knew I wanted to be a part of that.”
Papapalooza was created in response to the family physician crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the inability of those with a cervix to access timely Pap Smear screening due to systemic challenges. The first Papapalooza was held in Nanaimo in late 2021.
Photo: NMP alum Dr. Christine Layton
“I was inspired to co-create Papapalooza because it was clear there was a need in our community for timely, trauma-informed access to Pap smear screening,” says Dr. Layton, who is now a family physician in Nanaimo. “There were days in the office where I was easily seeing 20 patients a day for Pap smears. And for context, I usually see 27-30 patients a day in total!
“Because my clinic days were full of Pap smears, it made it challenging to see all of my other family medicine patients and maternity patients, and so the idea of creating an event where Pap smears could be offered outside of my regular office hours was born.”
Hannah notes that as soon as she heard what Papapalooza was all about, she wanted to become involved. “I currently hope to become a rural family physician after medical school, and I am very interested in how we can improve a community's health and community members' access to necessary healthcare in general.
“Hearing women say how grateful they were for this opportunity to get a Pap test, how many years they were overdue, or how they didn't have family doctors or had ones that were not comfortable doing Paps, it was just so evident how important events like these are. It also emphasized to me how much I hope the Papapalooza can become an annual or bi-annual event in Prince George.”
The Prince George Papapalooza was held at Central Interior Native Health (CINHS) on Saturday, June 3. It brought together a large group of local healthcare professionals who provided Pap test services during the event. Family physician Dr. Heather Smith, also an NMP graduate, worked closely with the organizing NMP students, and others, to host Papapalooza at CINHS. And there was also a group of NMP students and grads who pitched in to help during the event!
“One of my top learning experiences from Papapalooza was how it takes a team to make an event like this happen,” adds Bailey. “There were so many people working behind the scenes to get this organized. Seeing it come to life after many months of planning was a huge reward.”
To date, Papapalooza events have been held not only in Nanaimo, but also Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna, and Ottawa. Work is currently ongoing to help bring Papapalooza to other communities in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.