The Province has reached a formal agreement with Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine to proceed with the development of a Family Medicine Residency Program in Prince Edward Island.
“This is a significant milestone for Prince Edward Island medical students and for all Islanders,” said Premier Robert Ghiz. “The medical residency program will provide tremendous training opportunities and will be a key component in helping to address the doctor shortage in Prince Edward Island.”
“Medical residents who train here and become familiar with the Island way of life, and style of medical practice, have the highest potential to stay,” said Health Minister Doug Currie. “We’ve been dedicated to making a medical residency program a reality for Prince Edward Island and this marks a major achievement in our overall recruitment and retention strategy.”
The medical residency program will be based and operated from a site at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and delivered throughout a number of communities across Prince Edward Island.
A site administrator will be hired to work with Dr. George Carruthers, medical site director, to carry out the training and development of teaching physicians – also known as preceptors. To train as a family physician, a medical school graduate must complete two years of residency training under the guidance of a practising, credentialed preceptor. There are currently about 70 preceptors in Prince Edward Island, many of whom will be involved in some aspect of training the residents.
Five first-year residents will begin training in Prince Edward Island in July, 2009.
The current medical education advisory committee, which worked through the initial planning phase and included members from Dalhousie Medical School, the Island preceptor community and other key health representatives, will be expanded to guide the development of the program through to its full implementation in July, 2009 and beyond.
The Family Medicine Residency Program will be responsible for the selection, curriculum, training and evaluation of medical residents within program criteria specified by Dalhousie University Department of Family Medicine.
The program will cost approximately $1.2 million annually to operate.
“The Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University sees this important announcement as an exciting opportunity for enhancing family medicine training capacity in the province of Prince Edward Island,” said Dr. Harold Cook, Dalhousie’s Dean of Medicine. “Collaborative partnering with the physicians and government in PEI moves us another step forward in the continuum of training competent, caring and socially responsible physicians as part of our collective contributions to improving the health of our maritime community.”
“We’re thrilled about this partnership with Dalhousie University to bring their prestigious residency program here,” said Premier Ghiz. “This is a program in which Islanders can be extremely proud and it’s a major step forward for medical education training in Prince Edward Island.“
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Prince Edward Island Family Medicine Residency Program
What is the Prince Edward Island Family Medicine Residency Program?
The Family Medicine Residency Program is a two-year program that will provide training in family medicine for medical students who have completed their four-year medical degree. Two years of residency training is required in order to practice independently as a family physician. Once students enter the residency program, they are referred to as medical residents.
What are the benefits of this program?
The medical residency program will provide tremendous training opportunities for medical residents and will offer multiple benefits for the province.
- Medical residents who train here and become familiar with the Island way of life, and style of medical practice, have the highest potential to stay. The medical residency program will allow Island residents to study and stay at home to practice.
- The program will be a key component in helping to address the doctor shortage in Prince Edward Island and will have a positive impact on future recruitment and retention efforts.
- Second-year residents, unlike medical students, can work as qualified physicians under the supervision of a licensed physician, which will substantially help with patient workload. In some areas this may reduce the need to bring in locums.
- It is difficult to recruit residents completing rotations to the Island from other training sites as they have already made plans to practice in the province in which they are being trained. Having a medical residency program on the Island will help us to retain residents as this is the place they are receiving their training.
- The presence and status of a teaching unit within the province may attract speciality residents from other medical schools to complete elective rotations on the Island, placing us in a position to have a greater influence on recruitment for speciality positions.
- The existence of a residency program will provide overall enhancement to medical services provided within the medical community. This is due to the exchange of experiences between the resident and the preceptor group on new and emerging practices and the enhanced academic exposure for preceptors providing training to residents.
Where will the medical residency program be located?
The residency program will be based and operated from a site at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and delivered throughout communities across the Island.
When will it begin?
Five first-year residents will enter the program to begin training in July 2009.
How many medical residents will be enrolled in the program?
There will be a total of 10 residents in the program at a time. Five first-year medical residents, as well as five second-year residents, will be living on the Island and receiving training to meet Dalhousie University’s requirements for family medicine physician training.
Who will be responsible for training the medical residents?
Island physicians who have received preceptor credentialing are eligible to train the medical residents. A site administrator will be hired to work with Dr. George Carruthers, medical site director, to carry out the training and development of teaching physicians – also known as preceptors. To train as a family physician, a medical student must complete two years of residency training under the guidance of a practising credentialed preceptor. There are currently about 70 preceptors in Prince Edward Island, many of whom will be involved in some aspect of training the residents.
Who is involved in developing this program?
The current medical education advisory committee, which worked through the initial planning phase and included members from the Dalhousie University Medical School, the Island preceptor community and other key health representatives, will be expanded to guide the development of the program through to its full implementation in July 2009 and beyond. The Family Medical Residency Program will be responsible for the selection, curriculum, training and evaluation of medical residents within program criteria specified by Dalhousie University Department of Family Medicine.
What is the cost of the program?
The program will cost approximately $1.2 million annually to operate.