Alberta to address rural doctor shortages through training in Lethbridge and Grande Prairie
The provincial government has unveiled its plan to bring more physicians to areas that are currently underserved, but some doctors aren't convinced the strategy will address the real problem.
Health Minister Jason Copping and Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced $1 million in funding for regional post-secondary institutions, including the University of Lethbridge and and Northwestern Polytechnic in Grande Prairie, to explore ways of offering medical education outside of Alberta's two largest cities.
Currently, the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta are the only medical schools in the province.
"It's been a very tough three years for physicians but I think we're turning the corner," said Copping. "Alberta, historically, has been one of the best places in Canada — the best place in Canada — to practise medicine and we're working very hard to keep it that way.
"We still have a lot of work to do though because the overall supply is not the only issue. We need more physicians and, in particular, we need them in smaller communities where it's harder to recruit them and harder to keep them.
"The best way to recruit people to the place you want them to work is to train them there."
Mike Mahon, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Lethbridge, agrees.
"The evidence would suggest that when students are trained in rural or non-large urban settings, that the likelihood of them staying in that specific setting or at least in a rural setting or a smaller city setting is much higher."
Several rural communities in Alberta, including Airdrie, Milk River, Ponoka and Beaverlodge, have temporarily closed their emergency departments due to a dearth of available physicians.
Larry Liebelt, mayor of Milk River, says it's good the problem is being worked on.
"They realize there's a problem in rural Alberta. I think it's good that they're figuring out that rural Alberta is outside of the cities, there's actually a lot of people that don't live in the big cities."
Bev Meundel-Atherstone, Lethbridge Friends of Medicare chapter chair, is less convinced.
"As usual, the UCP government is excellent at rhetoric and creating a smoke screen and saying they're going to do something, announcing something that's only an exploration study but not putting money into the real thing."
Copping has previously stated that the province's doctor shortage is a government priority and progress has been made to address the issue. According to Copping, the number of registered doctors in Alberta increased by 254 throughout 2022, bringing the total number of physicians in the province to 11,407.
'WILL TAKE TIME'
While news of the training initiative is welcome, some Alberta doctors are concerned that the extra help won't come quick enough.
"Only 6.7 per cent of physicians in Alberta work and live in rural areas," said Dr. Aaron Johnston, associate dean for distributed learning and rural initiatives at the University of Calgary.
"That's far less than we need, and the training that was announced today, the exploration of additional training, will take time because there are limitations on training capacity in rural Alberta."
He says it's not a simple matter of adding spaces and suddenly there will be doctors to fill them.
"We have to have physicians who are acting as teachers who are able to take on more students," he said.
Johnston says rural family medicine residencies are small – the residency in Medicine Hat currently has seven spots per year and the program in Lethbridge has nine.
About 70 per cent of the people who go through those programs end up choosing rural, but that's 70 per cent of a small number.
"So my hope would be that over the next year we explore this idea and then make it real," said Johnston. "Because medical training is long. Here at the University of Calgary, we have a three-year undergraduate curriculum and, on top of that, physicians need to do at least a two-year residency in family medicine before they're able to practise.
"That's a five-year lead time."
Tens of thousands of people in southern Alberta have been unable to find a family doctor, with many of those residents on waitlists for over a year.
The province previously announced an additional $20 million to its $80-million business costs program in an effort to help rural doctors cover their clinic expenses.
(With files from CTV News' Kevin Fleming, Quinn Kennan)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
Police cordon off Iran consulate in Paris where man threatens to blow himself up: French media
French police cordoned off the Iranian consulate in Paris on Friday, where a man was threatening to blow himself up, Europe 1 radio and BFM TV.
Some Canadian families will receive up to $620 per child today
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
BREAKING Iran fires at apparent Israeli attack drones near Isfahan air base and nuclear site
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Ottawa to force banks to call carbon rebate a carbon rebate in direct deposits
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
Ontario woman loses $15,000 to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.