Donnelly area cattle owner chooses medicine over ranching
Channel: RhPAP
Date: 12/04/2023

Danika Bouvier knows her way around cattle. 
She grew up near Donnelly, where her parents ran a 550 head cattle operation.
50 of those cows belong to Danika and her siblings.

“I still am a cattle owner so I go back and help whenever I can," says Bouvier.

Today, Bouvier is in second year medicine at the University of Alberta. 

What made her choose to be a doctor instead of a rancher?

The summer after graduating from high school, Danika shadowed Dr. Simon Eriki in McLennan for two months. 

"It only took two days to realize this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," exclaimed Bouvier. 

"There’s so much about medicine that I think is so amazing. You get to build these profound and meaningful relationships with patients.”

She wants to practice family medicine in a rural area, somewhere like Peace River.

"I really like the broad scope of practice," added Bouvier. "You get to do a lot of different things and you get to help patients in a lot of different ways.”

Congratulations Danika on being selected as a recipient of the $5,000 RhPAP Rural Medical School Award.