Increasing number of Canadian medical students unable to secure residencies
Posted January 25, 2018 7:26 am.
Last Updated January 25, 2018 7:27 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Last week, we heard more warnings about the shortage of doctors in Canada, and now our colleagues at Maclean’s are sounding the alarm about the increasing number of medical students across the country unable to secure residencies to complete their training.
“It’s a real problem for the students because they want to get into their residency and start their career but not all of them can find a place. It’s a disaster,” says Dr. Laurent Marcoux, the president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA).
Marcoux points out that medical students spend years in school and can end up stalled, unable to find a residency in their desired field.
“They are just stuck in this problem,” he tells NEWS 1130.
The CMA is pushing for more provincial and federal funding to open up additional residencies across the country.
Maclean’s reports that “a record 68 students were left high and dry as they went through a match-making process that resembles an elaborate game of musical chairs. Factoring in graduates from previous years, 114 Canadian-trained students did not secure spots.”
The number is likely to be even higher this year.
Read more: Maclean’s: Doctors-in-training are growing extremely nervous about the lack of opportunities
The executive associate dean of education in UBC’s Faculty of Medicine describes the availability of residencies across Canada as “challenging.”
“There have been changes in certain jurisdictions. For instance in Ontario, there was recently a reduction in the number of residency positions,” says Dr. Roger Wong.
“However at the University of British Columbia, we have done a lot of work in the past decade or so to significantly expand the number of residency positions available in the province.”
In fact, Wong says the number of residencies has more doubled in that time.
“We currently offer 346 entry-level residency positions. If you look at our graduating class size, with 288 students every year, we feel that in BC, we certainly have done a lot of work to provide an adequate number of residencies.”
Wong also touts the university’s robust family medicine residency program.
While there are lineups for internal medicine residencies at the national level, Maclean’s reports there were actually 56 unfilled residencies last year in family medicine.
“At UBC, family medicine is a priority program. As the only medical school for the province, we believe in the principle of social accountability,” he says.
“Therefore, meeting the needs of British Columbians is a high priority. We know that family medicine is a much-needed area and we are home to the largest family medicine residency program in Canada. We currently train family medicine doctors in 19 locations throughout the province, including in rural and remote areas.”
Wong points out the school ensures every medical student takes part in a mandatory family medicine experience to illustrate the value and importance of general practitioners.
“The future of providing care for people in BC and Canada very much rests with a strong and robust primary care system. Family medicine plays a pivotal role along with a number of other health professions,” he says.
And UBC’s family medicine philosophy appears to be working.
“While we host the largest family medicine training program in Canada, every one of our spots has been taken in the first round of residency match over the past couple of years. It is a highly competitive and highly sought after program.”
In 2017, almost half of UBC’s graduating medical students entered into a family residency program in BC or another province.
“That emphasizes what we have done here at UBC to promote family medicine.”
