A Hal High graduate is getting a little extra financial support as he gets ready to start medical school next week.
The Kawartha Lakes Medical Society (KLMS) announced Aug. 18 that Minden’s Liam McAlister is the recipient of their 2026 first-year medical student award. Launched in 2024, the initiative directs cash to youth looking to train for a career in the health care sector, said Dr. Sheila-Mae Young, KLMS’ scholarship officer.
“KLMS looks forward to following Liam’s progress through medical school and residency and hopes to one day welcome him back as a physician practising in the City of Kawartha Lakes or the County of Haliburton,” Young said.
After graduating high school in 2019, McAlister completed his bachelor of science in physiology at McMaster University in 2023. He earned his master’s in interdisciplinary medical sciences at Western University in April 2024. He’s enrolled at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSOM) in Sudbury for the upcoming fall semester.
Speaking to The Highlander Aug. 25, McAlister said he’s spent almost a decade planning for a career in the health care sector.
“I started to realize when I was in high school that I wanted to go into medicine. I always liked science and then had some life experiences that sort of pushed me into health care,” McAlister said. While still early in his training, he said he’s considering family medicine as his specialty.
Young said the grant is for $2,000. It’s meant to help with school supplies and moving costs. McAlister was one of two applicants.
The award is presented annually to an applicant who is a usual resident of Kawartha Lakes or Haliburton County, is enrolled in year one of an Ontario Faculty of Medicine program, has made meaningful contributions to life in their community, and agrees to maintain an ongoing relationship with KLMS and other health care organizations in the region.
Young said the hope is that fully-trained professionals will return to work in their home community, addressing physician shortfalls in rural areas like the Highlands. Applications are due by June 30 each year, with recipients selected by the KLMS executive.
McAlister said the money was a big help, with the $2,000 going towards his first tuition payment, which was due this week.
Having already been in touch with physician recruiters in the Highlands, McAlister said he can see himself returning home to practise sometime in the future.
“I’m definitely open to it. NOSOM is really good at extending us into all different areas, but I know I want to get into rural medicine somehow and I think I’d like to get back home one day,” McAlister said.
Young added KLMS has a long history of supporting education of future health care professionals, with the organization also supplying $600 bursaries to one graduating student from each of the five high schools in the region, including Hal High.
