N.B. adds 4 medical seats to U de M, minister promises more
The New Brunswick government is adding four new medical seats to the medical school at Université de Moncton, and four others are being transferred from Quebec.
Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Trevor Holder said the provincial government will allocate $172,000 annually for the four seats, a sum that will be added to the $4.8 million already allotted to the medical doctorate program at the university.
The province will now be funding a total of 74 medical school seats in New Brunswick in the francophone and anglophone programs.
Four seats now at Université de Sherbrooke — three funded by Nova Scotia and one by Prince Edward Island — will be moved to Moncton as well.
WATCH | Four new medical seats announced for Université de Moncton
These eight seats in total were what Dr. Michel H. Landry, director of the medical school, had asked for, Radio-Canada reported.
At the announcement Thursday, Holder said the province is still working with Université de Moncton and Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick and "we intend to be back here for future announcements in the very near future."
"We are not done, and we intend to do more to beyond even what we're announcing here," Holder said.
"Those conversations are serious, they're happening now and we look forward to more good news."
Neither Holder nor Health Minister Bruce Fitch indicated how many more seats are expected for each school.
Majority of graduates stayed in N.B.
The move is part of the province's strategy to train doctors locally with the hopes that they stay. Last week, the government announced it will be moving 10 medical seats from Memorial University in Newfoundland to the Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick program.
Since the program opened in 2006, Landry said, 281 students have received their medical doctorates. Of these, 60 per cent are family physicians, and 77 per cent have decided to stay and practise in New Brunswick.
With this addition, the number of medical seats in the Moncton program will increase from to 28 from 24. There are 40 medical seats at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick, and three each at Université Laval and Université de Montréal in Quebec.
Fitch also said the province has also increased funding to add 85 nursing seats in the province.
Fitch said giving doctors the opportunity study and conduct residencies in New Brunswick would mean greater likelihood of retention as well.
Dr. France Desrosiers, president and CEO of Vitalité Health Network, applauded the announcement.
"We are committed to helping train students by providing them with quality internships in our facilities," she was quoted as saying in a news release. "We also hope to be able to count on their services in the Acadian region."
