Bursary Recipients Return to Elliot Lake!
Phillippe & Stéphanie Morel, twins, grew up in Elliot Lake where they attended Villa Française des Jeunes. In their final year of secondary school, they both applied for the ELNOS Bursary for their post-secondary education. Having one child head off to University can be quite the financial burden to parents, let alone two at the same time! Fortunately, both Phillippe and Stéphanie were selected as recipients of the 2012 ELNOS Bursary.
Phillippe completed his undergrad in Medical Biology at Laurentian University then continued his education at the University of Waterloo to become an Optometrist. His wife, now a Speech Pathologist with Thrive in Elliot Lake, was also from Northern Ontario (Spanish), so it was a simple decision for them to re-locate back to Elliot Lake to pursue their careers surrounded by family. Dr. Bruno Coccimiglio (formerly served Elliot Lake) was an inspiration to Phillippe and the reason why he pursued this career. It was through Dr. Coccimiglio that he learned of the availability and need in Elliot Lake for this occupation. Phillippe recognized that many smaller communities, especially in the ELNOS Region, lack a lot of services that you can find in big cities. He wanted to come back to his hometown and give back to the community that gave so much to him as a child, and he encourages other students to do the same. Phillippe acknowledged there were many benefits to returning besides providing a needed service to the community, including the great outdoor lifestyle and being close to family! When asked how the bursary impacted him, Phillippe said it was awesome! Especially being a significant amount of financial assistance considering the cost of tuition and all the other expenses associated with university life. Having both his sister and him be recipients was a huge relief for their family. Dr. Phillippe Morel is accepting patients at Eye of the North located at 8 Elizabeth Walk in Elliot Lake.
Likewise, Stéphanie also entered the healthcare field and completed her education in various diagnostic modalities at College Boreal. Like her brother, the outdoor activities, the beautiful scenery, and being close to family was a big influence in the decision to return to Elliot Lake with her husband. Her in-laws also moved to the area which made the decision that much easier. The ELNOS bursary assisted Stéphanie in paying for not just one but three programs! First, she completed the Diagnostic Medical Radiation Technologist program to become an x-ray technologist. She returned to school getting her diploma in Ultrasound and continued her education and attained her CT Scan certification. She now works full time at the St Joseph’s General Hospital in Elliot Lake offering all three modalities. While multi-modality technologists are not common in Northern Ontario, Stéphanie recognized the ergonomic benefits of not having to perform the repetitive movements of one modality which can strain the body over time resulting in chronic injuries. For this reason, Stéphanie encourages any students looking into diagnostic imaging to study more than one modality. We are very lucky to have someone like Stéphanie in the community. Her skill set allows our hospital to have certain equipment like the new CT Scanner which has already saved many Elliot Lakers a months-long wait and long drive to Sudbury for this procedure.
The ELNOS Bursary is awarded to six graduating students in the Region each year based on need and community/school involvement. It was created to assist students pursuing post-secondary education in hopes that they, like Phillippe & Stéphanie, would return home to provide much needed services to our communities — with the bonus of being close to family and enjoying the incredible outdoor lifestyle the Region can offer! The bursary application is available in both English and French starting in February of each year. Applications are reviewed by the ELNOS Community Relations Committee and recipients are then carefully selected. Recipients are notified at their graduation ceremony and a plaque is hung in the lobby of the ELNOS Building to recognize their leadership and dedication to our Region.
If you were an ELNOS Bursary recipient who has returned to the Region to build your career, we’d love to hear from you!
Applications for 2022 are now being accepted! Click here for more information.
Phillippe & Stéphanie with their Bursary Plaque in the ELNOS Building lobby.