Minister Randy Delorey visited Bridgewater on February 18 to announce that the South Shore would welcome five Dalhousie medical students annually to complete a work of practical training.
This program is part of a clerkship that medical students can undertake during their third year of studies. The province says that most medical students travel to various regions around the province for shorter training programs but this program will offer an alternative.
Delorey says this move also serves as a way to retain doctors. “Research has shown that doctors are more likely to work or start practices in the areas where they do most of their training.”
Local MLA Mark Furey also spoke at the event and said they want to seize the supply of local doctors. ” Right now we have lots of young people from the South Shore in medical schools around the country and this will hopefully allow some of them to come back to their communities.”
Emily Rogers of Bridgewater is currently in her second year of Dalhousie Medical School and thinks the program provides an excellent opportunity for students like her. “I’m excited to return to the area where I grew up and become involved in the community as a medical student and future physician. I chose the clerkship because of the educational experience and the ability to follow patients throughout the clerkship. I look forward to learning from physicians who live and practice medicine in rural communities, which I plan to do when I finish training.”
The program will begin in tandem with the beginning of the 2020 academic period of Dalhousie Medical School.
In order to facilitate the new students’ upgrades will be required at various hospitals. The provincial government is contributing $130,000 for those upgrades along with funding from The Health Services Foundation of the South Shore, South Shore Regional Auxiliary and the Queens General Hospital Foundation.
