Province trumpets new doctors

The announcement began innocuously enough — a government media release proclaiming the good news of 20 new doctors practising in the province.

But then came the avalanche of emails.

The new doctors, in communities from Lloydminster to Swift Current, are here as a result of the most recent Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment (SIPPA) program.

Every health region receiving a new doctor under the program got its own release, creating a flood of more than 10 emails, one after the other, announcing “New doctors,” “New doctors.”

The news itself is, of course, excellent. To argue against more doctors, primarily in rural areas, would be folly.

However, the timing and deluge of releases raised some questions, particularly in light of the Craik situation, which last week saw tens of citizens from Craik and other communities journey to the provincial legislature to protest what they say is the erosion of rural health care.

But Rural and Remote Health Minister Greg Ottenbreit said the announcement had nothing to do with Craik, nor the fact the Opposition has been hammering government with questions of health care since the start of the fall sitting.

It was just a quirk of timing.

“IT’S KEY IN ADDRESSING THE DOCTOR SHORTAGE WE SAW BEFORE IN RURAL AREAS.” GREG OTTENBREIT

As for the plethora of media releases, that was “to recognize the regions” which all have unique needs and requests, and we can expect the same approach in another three months.

The SIPPA program was tailormade for Saskatchewan.

It assesses international medical graduates on their education and clinical ability before allowing them to practise in the province.

The idea is to plug the doctorshortage gap with international recruits, and Ottenbreit says people across Saskatchewan benefit “from better access to doctors” because of it.

“It’s key in addressing the doctor shortage we saw before in rural areas,” he said.

It seems to be working, too.

The program has seen 92 per cent of graduates stay in the province, with 96 per cent of those in rural areas.

“Those grads are ... assimilating, fitting in quite readily and having a lot of success,” Ottenbreit said.