UPEI MED SCHOOL MOVING FORWARD

When the issue of an Island medical school was raised during my term as president of the Medical Society of P.E.I. (200506), we were hesitant, given our province’s smaller population of 140,000, and the absence of serious contemporary groundwork.

Since then, new medical schools have been established in New Brunswick, Ontario and other places to address the nationwide physician shortage, and jurisdictions have become more competitive in their efforts to recruit and retain physicians.

The time for hesitancy in educating physicians locally is long past, and this became abundantly clear upon release of an Island physician survey in early 2019, by the Medical Society of P.E.I. that revealed 56 per cent of then practising doctors would retire, leave the province, or reduce their practice within five years.

A plan to address the impending physician access crisis was advanced with substantial support:

• Accelerated physician recruitment to serve immediate needs.

• Increase medical residency positions for the intermediate term.

• Establishment of an Island medical school for long-term stability.

Although the P.E.I. government has taken policy and regulatory measures to increase physician mobility and extend health-care access by expansion of pharmacy and nursing scopes of practice, doctor recruitment has not kept pace with medical service needs. A renewed physician retention and recruitment effort must be innovative and focused, utilizing all hands-on deck.

In October 2021 the provincial government endorsed the establishment of the UPEI medical school, and in March 2023, the federal government backed the project with a multimillion-dollar injection of support.

As it turns out, the UPEI medical school has become a recruitment tool, attracting doctors to the Island as instructors, and practising physicians.

As well, a medical clinic associated with the educational facility will serve 10,000 Islanders, reducing the patient wait list.

The Spindle Report has laid out a blueprint with a timeline to flesh out the instructor and mentorship requirements for the medical school, which will be incremental with yearly enrolment and residency needs being phased in.

Any pause, or delay in development of the medical school at this point would only serve to hinder overall physician recruitment to the Island.

With multiple consultations held informing a dedicated team, a supportive relationship built between UPEI and Memorial University, civic, provincial and federal commitments, time-sensitive contracts signed, an experienced medical school dean in place, a new Health P.E.I. CEO with a can-do approach, hopes raised for future Island medical students, and Islanders seeking medical care stability, it’s time to come together for the success of the UPEI medical school, and benefit for all.

Dr. Herb Dickieson, Former president, Medical Society of Prince Edward Island