Kamloops doctor plans to start family practice after childhood in foster care

Photo: BC College of Family Physicians

Dr. Rachel Cook plans to setup a family practice after completing additional PGY3 training.

A Kamloops doctor says she plans to set up a family practice in the community after spending her formative years in foster care with parents suffering from addiction.

Dr. Rachel Cook, a resident training at the UBC Family Medicine site in Kamloops, said both her parents suffered from substance use, which caused her to bounce between homes.

“I sort of went back and forth between my mom and my dad,” said Cook.

“When I was 14, things sort of fell apart. And I ended up in the foster care system for about 14 to 19 when I aged out.”

Her two sisters were also removed from her parent's home, with the three all living apart with strangers.

Cook said she’s fortunate to have had a positive relationship with her foster family and previous social worker.

“I had a good experience in that regard. I know a lot of foster youth aren't so lucky,” Cook said.

Cook said that her experiences in foster care has informed her desire to go into family practice.

“I’ve had a few adults and mentors in my life who have made a really big difference and have always been around for me, and I really valued that relationship," she said.

"And I think there's some overlap with that and family medicine."

In family medicine, a physician will see a patient through their struggles and walk them through all aspects of their life.

“When I was 14, I was a very different person than I am now. I had different struggles. And now I feel like things have settled out of it. And I didn't have a family doctor, but they would have been able to see me through all of that,” Cook said.

“So I think that would be nice to do the same thing, to be that one point in somebody's life where they can have that stability and that structure and that trust.”

Cook said she now has positive relationships with both her parents, neither of whom are in the throes of addiction.

She said she’s beginning a mini fellowship in the fall, working in addiction, HIV and gender care, which she says is directly based on her own experiences growing up and wanting to help people.

Cook completed a bachelor of science in nursing at Thompson Rivers University before earning her medical degree at UBC.

She is planning on pursuing additional residency training before establishing her family practice in Kamloops where she hopes to work with patients experiencing addictions, homelessness and HIV infection, as well as those seeking gender-affirming care.

According to Cook, most physicians tend to avoid family practice as it requires long hours and is difficult to schedule time off.

“You're still going to be checking the inbox and stuff to make sure things are OK,” she said.

“It's hard to actually be off.”

Cook said it’s the personal relationship with patients that attracts her to family medicine and makes her want to avoid consult-based services.

“So you'll see a patient and kind of make a plan, but then you don't really, you know, see them over the years with how they grow, and how that affects them,” she said.

Cook was recently awarded the BC College of Family Physicians R2 Resident Award.

Cook has also co-founded a chapter of GIRLSCLUB in Kamloops with her husband in 2019 — a free nonprofit group for girls with neurological and developmental disabilities.

She said that the inclusive club allows parents and children alike to connect and develop relationships.