Officials pushing for new Canadian medical school in BC

[dr nomis]

Officials consider opening a new B.C. medical school

 

 

Pamela Fayerman, Sun Health Issues Reporter, Vancouver Sun

 

Published: Thursday, September 25, 2008

Preliminary discussions have started about a second B.C. medical school to be located either at Simon Fraser University or a new satellite campus of the University of B.C.

"I need to move forward with plans to secure health professionals for this region," said Fraser Health Authority chief executive Dr. Nigel Murray, who was hired a year ago to lead the sprawling health region.

"There's some urgency to health workplace planning because there is a real shortage of doctors and a medical school in this jurisdiction would be very complementary to that objective," Murray said in an interview.

 

"The troubling statistics are that Surrey has 56 family doctors per 100,000 population, and a place like downtown Vancouver has 140 per 100,000. The evidence is that doctors tend to settle and practise in the communities where they are trained, so we need to put some plans in place."

Murray said although he has been talking to top officials at both SFU and UBC, it is too early to say whether that will lead to a new medical school or where it would be located.

"Both universities are fundamental to our future," he said. "We need to improve our teaching, training and research capabilities in this region. It's one of the largest and the fastest-growing in Canada."

Although UBC has doubled its medical school enrolment in recent years, the province still has one of the lowest ratios of medical students to population. Ontario has six medical schools and Quebec has four. Even Alberta, with a smaller population than B.C., has two medical schools.

SFU has a faculty of health sciences with programs in molecular biology and biochemistry, gerontology, kinesiology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, statistics and actuarial science. Each year, several pre-med students from SFU get accepted into the UBC medical school program.

John O'Neil, dean of health sciences at SFU, acknowledged Fraser Health officials are anxious to increase physician supply.

"It is difficult recruiting and retaining doctors when there is no academic (medical school) campus," O'Neil said. "So the informal conversations are about whether B.C. needs another medical school and if so, would SFU be interested in that?

"Are we? Of course it would be interesting to us, but I don't know if it's at the point where we're talking about a medical school at this point. No one has reached clear thinking on that," he said.

He added that SFU "doesn't have the infrastructure right now for a medical school."

"We would definitely need more resources and more infrastructure and training if we were to establish a medical school," he said.

There is no shortage of potential students. UBC had more than 1,800 applications for its medical school this year, accepting 256.

UBC medical school dean Gavin Stuart, who has been part of the discussions, said, "Should there be another medical school in B.C? I think it's a good discussion to have."

Stuart said UBC medical school graduates and undergraduates already train at hospitals in the Fraser region.

By the time the Okanagan satellite of the UBC medical school is ready to open in 2011, UBC will be admitting 288 medical students a year. The needs about 400 more doctors each year to replace those who leave or retire. Doctors from other provinces and countries help fill the gap, but an estimated 150,000 residents don't have a family doctor and long waits to see specialists are notorious.

This past spring, UBC graduated the first class of medical students from its expanded program. According to the current issue of the B.C. Medical Journal, the impetus for the expanded school came eight years ago when 7,000 Prince George residents protested the shortage of doctors and poor access to health care in the northern region.

Premier Gordon Campbell and health minister George Abbott could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

[futuredoc]

Sounds like a great idea, I only hope they are not as cheap as UBC when it comes to the OOP seats .

[Kathryn]

^^^Ahaha. True dat.

 

Frankly, I think Manitoba could use one more too, but I'm just bitter about only having one school to apply to as an IP.

[Alastriss]

Sounds like a great idea, I only hope they are not as cheap as UBC when it comes to the OOP seats .

 

I'm pretty sure they will be cheaper if anything at all. I wouldn't mind having the "IP" pool being anyone from Canada who is contracted to practice for 5 years in that province after becoming licensed and the "OOP" pool being the pool that has no contracts binding.

[Retsage]

^^^Ahaha. True dat.

 

Frankly, I think Manitoba could use one more too, but I'm just bitter about only having one school to apply to as an IP.

 

 

Oh, cry more. You have all the seats in Ontario at your disposal. All of us poor bastards from Ontario don't have a single IP seat reserved (unless we're Indians and/or from some horrifically small, rural town).

[dr nomis]

...(unless we're Indians and/or from some horrifically small, rural town).

 

Haha... I love the implication that being from a rural area is horrific.

[Retsage]

Take it from a Toronto-boy, it totally is.

 

I just read Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Leacock. It may have also coloured my perceptions a tad.

[Kathryn]

Rural is horrific. I spent 17 years here. The paved road ended at our only traffic light. You lucky duckies in Toronto ought to count your blessings.

[futuredoc]

Rural is horrific. I spent 17 years here. The paved road ended at our only traffic light. You lucky duckies in Toronto ought to count your blessings.

 

No way! I love living in rural areas. Besides, why on earth would you want to live 50 cm from your neighbors? The only problem is that racism is much more common in the rural places (at least that is what personal experience has taught me ) and that sometimes everything is just sooooo far away.

 

ps. Look for how Pictou County doesn't like gay pride flags lol.

[Kathryn]

No way! I love living in rural areas. Besides, why on earth would you want to live 50 cm from your neighbors? The only problem is that racism is much more common in the rural places (at least that is what personal experience has taught me ) and that sometimes everything is just sooooo far away.

 

ps. Look for how Pictou County doesn't like gay pride flags lol.

 

Well, there's something to be said for having options for evening entertainment besides going to the bar again. When we were drinking out of boredom 5 nights out of 7 I thought it'd be a nice idea to live in the city for a little while. Ha ha. The nearest Walmart was 3 hours away!

 

I saw that Pictou county thing a little while back. How lame! Our best hairdresser back home was a flamboyantly gay dude and everyone loved him.

 

Intolerance is just dumb. Luckily, we had people moving through town from all over the world because of the mines. It was pretty rare for anyone to actually get racist. I can see how little maritime fishing villages can be like that, though.

 

So...back OT.....yay BC and their new med school.

[islander]

Thanks for the post Dr Nomis.

A new school is desperately needed.