Manitoba is still in desperate need for more physicians, but the province isn’t having much trouble attracting medical school graduates for hands-on training.
This year, the province expanded the number of available residencies, from 156 to 173, and — for the first time in a few years — filled every training seat.
Dr. Peter Nickerson, dean of the University of Manitoba’s medical school, says it’s a testament to the province’s efforts in attracting fledgling physicians.
“It’s great to increase your [training] spots, but if you can’t fill them, then what have you really achieved?” Nickerson said at a government news conference Wednesday.
“I think the achievement is that we expanded and filled, and that’s the real take-home message for today.”
Every year, hundreds of Canadian medical students pick their top choices for specialities and locations, and a non-profit organization, CaRMS, uses an algorithm to match graduates with placements at medical schools across the country.
Doctors can’t become licensed or work without finishing a residency.
Manitoba often has a few unfilled training seats following the annual matching process, but that didn’t happen this year, even after the provincial government funded 17 additional training seats.
Rural opportunities appealing: dean
Nickerson, speaking at the U of M’s medical campus in Winnipeg, partially attributed the province’s success to the varied training opportunities it offers. For example, the majority of family medicine training seats this year are located outside Winnipeg, including in Neepawa for the first time.
“When you come and do family medicine, especially in a rural or northern community, as a trainee you get exposed to so much more than if you’re training in an urban centre — that attracts residents; they’re looking for the ability to look after patients in a comprehensive way,” he said.
Stefon Irvine said it’s “surreal” to be matched with a family medicine placement in northern and remote Manitoba — his top choice.
He wants to become a family doctor at a time when Canada is coping with a shortage of people interested in primary care.
“When I was in my training in medical school, I never had a specialty that called out to me in the way that family medicine did, because I could do everything from birth to death and everything that happens in between,” he said.
Irvine said he also feels a personal calling to northern Manitoba, where he grew up. He’s a member of Chemawawin Cree Nation, near Easterville, and lived in a number of communities.
He’s long known about the inequities in health-care access between northern and southern Manitoba, he said.
“Something that I want to incorporate in my practice is continuing the advocacy that’s already ongoing to increase access to health care in the North, but also returning to the area that I grew up in as well,” he said.
Nickerson said 73 per cent of U of M medical graduates stay in Manitoba for their residency, which lasts at least two years.
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the provincial government will work hard to retain everyone who completes their residency in Manitoba.
“To the future physicians, we look forward to doing what it takes to make sure that you are motivated to stay here in Manitoba,” the minister said.
Nickerson said the university has carefully evaluated the amount of growth its residency programs can sustain, in collaboration with the physicians who’d support the students. He said he’s confident Manitoba can support 190 medical residencies next year.
“Stay tuned,” he said, “the government has invested and we’re here to meet the challenge. We think we can do it.”
The provincial government is celebrating after expanding the number of training seats for medical students — and filling each position — in 2024.