Memorial University plans to increase the number of students in its medical school by 50 per cent over the next three years, the school's dean of medicine, James Rourke, told a public forum in Grand Falls-Windsor.
He said he's working with the provincial government to encourage more rural students to become doctors.
"That means a whole lot more students from Central [Newfoundland] who will hopefully come back here for much of their training, who hopefully will then come back here for some of their residency training, and hopefully come back here to practice," he said.
Harbour Breton resident John Vallis, who attended the forum, said the regional health authorities should go one step further and address the doctor shortage in rural communities by providing incentives.
"I don't know what flexibility they have, if any, to provide any incentives to physicians in particular who want to go and work in the sticks … because that would help to solve the problem," he said.
Rourke agreed that incentives like free rent and paid assistants are a couple of ideas that health boards need to consider when trying to lure new doctors to remote communities.
MORE NFLD. & LABRADOR HEADLINES »
- Druken's lawyer aims to have charges dropped
- The St. John's lawyer representing Randy Druken, a wrongfully convicted man who remains in custody on assault charges in a different case, wants the Crown to drop its case.
- Want happiness? Live east, researchers find
- Most of Canada's happiest cities are on the East Coast — but geography is not necessarily the key factor, researchers have found.
- Oil-rich N.L. braces for loot and consequences
- The prosperity that awaits Newfoundland and Labrador threatens to bring a new set of problems it has never experienced before.
- From soldier to carpenter: Vet tries to leave Afghanistan behind
- The hammering of home construction is a far cry from the sound of bullets, but a St. John's-area veteran is finding it hard to leave Afghanistan in his past.
- Stephenville firefighting school bursting at seams
- A training institution in western Newfoundland has found a booming business catering to a demand in Atlantic Canada for firefighters.
Canada Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles
Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window
