LIVING A LIFE IN HARMONY
By Girard Hengen
Life hasn’t always been in perfect harmony for Moose Jaw’s “Singing Doctor.” A decade ago, Dr. Volker Rininsland’s world closed in. His son left home, his daughter was growing up too fast, his father was ill and needed surgery, and he testified during a murder trial in which the defence tried to pin the blame on him for failing to revive the victim. Discordant voices took over where once there was song and laughter. “I crashed emotionally,” Dr. Rininsland said. “I contacted the SMA and said, ‘I’m not enjoying my life; I have to talk to someone.’ The Physician Health Program got me in touch with someone to talk to, and they said, ‘You are quite normal and what you are going through is normal.’ ” Dr. Rininsland now exudes wit and charm. Over lunch with residents who are part of the family medicine residency program he developed in Moose Jaw, he regales in stories with a vibrancy that belies his 60 years.
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SMA DIGEST | WINTER 2017
A family physician for 34 years, he has been a Saskatchewan Medical Association member since his university days, and served on SMA committees and as president of the Five Hills Regional Medical Association. He was also twice president of the Saskatchewan chapter of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. He developed an EMT program for Moose Jaw. For these achievements, and perhaps for breaking out in song on occasion, Dr. Rininsland received the SMA’s Physician of the Year Award for 2017. “I’m surprised how much goodwill I have received from patients,” he said after word filtered out in Moose Jaw about the award, which was announced at the SMA’s 2017 Spring Representative Assembly in May. “It’s just beautiful. I’ve gotten at least 150 congratulations cards.” A fixture in Moose Jaw’s medical scene, Dr. Rininsland actually wanted to practice somewhere smaller. That’s not surprising for someone firmly rooted in the soil of rural Saskatchewan. His family came from Germany to Lanigan when he was 10. His father, an engineer, took a job as manager of the nearby potash mine.