SMALL STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Health Minister James Aylward’s recent announcement to acquire two more medical residency positions to address the staggering physician shortage on the Island is a small step in the right direction. It would be great if we could make it five seats, adding to the existing five positions, reaching a total of 10 openings for the 2020 medical graduates.

Bolstering the Island’s medical residency program will be helpful in the intermediate term to replace some family doctors who are retiring or scaling down their practices. Residency positions are a good investment since they allow graduate MDs to familiarize themselves with the Island's health-care system, which in itself is a strong incentive to establish a practice in our province.

Minister Aylward’s department will be tasked with providing the needed infrastructure to accommodate the expanded residency program supporting more resident physician preceptors. While Minister Aylward’s focus in addressing the physician shortage is to be commended, we do require a more robust recruitment and retention effort to fill present vacancies and provide family doctors for the 15,000 Islanders on the wait list. As well, we will need all allied health care hands on deck, and progressive public policy to meet the general and specific health and wellness objectives of our province.

The longer term and more substantive solution to the Island’s physician shortage is to establish the medical faculty at the University of Prince Edward Island.

This entails a decision by the King government to begin the process with a small investment striking a team to start the planning and negotiation for a medical faculty to educate our own physicians and secure medical service for Islanders.

Dr. Herb Dickieson, O’Leary