Five new seats will be added to the Family Medicine Residency Program for International Medical Graduates at Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine. Successful applicants will begin their training on July 1, 2023. These additional seats provide a pathway for International Medical Graduates who want to return to Canada to practice medicine and will help to increase the supply of medical professionals.
International Medical Graduates are graduates of international medical schools who can apply to complete their postgraduate residency training at a Canadian medical school like the one at Memorial University. Currently, there are 80 residency seats in total that are allocated across the various training programs offered by the Faculty of Medicine. The Family Medicine residency program accounts for 35 of these seats.
The five additional residency seats will now be reserved for International Medical Graduates by way of this dedicated stream in the Family Medicine residency program. Family Medicine currently has five streams: Eastern, Central, Western, Northern and Nunavut. Each stream focuses on providing unique teaching and learning experiences related to the communities in the area.
This is the latest initiative of the Provincial Government to address the shortage of health care professionals in Newfoundland and Labrador. Other recent measures can be found in the backgrounder below.
Quotes
“Each stream in the Family Medicine residency program offers a unique rural and remote learning environment specific to the communities they serve. It is our hope that these extra seats will help address physician recruitment and retention challenges in the province, particularly in rural and remote regions. It also represents another pathway for Canadian medical school graduates to return to Canada to practice.”
Honourable Andrew Furey
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
“Providing this opportunity for residents may increase the likelihood that they may stay in the province to practice as a family physician upon graduation. We must continue to work together on creative solutions like this one in our efforts to attract and keep health care professionals.”
Honourable Tom Osborne
Minister of Health and Community Services
“We thank the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for providing the support needed to increase the number of medical residents which will benefit our communities. We know that these new family medicine residents will embrace Newfoundland and Labrador as their home and stay here to practice medicine in the long term.”
Vianne Timmons, PhD, OC
President
Memorial University
“As the only medical school in the province, Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine plays an important role in supporting physician recruitment and retention. This expansion of our family medicine program will provide an opportunity to give hand-on experiences to Canadian citizens or permanent Canadian residents to complete their residency program in Newfoundland and Labrador with the goal that they remain here to practice.”
Dr. Margaret Steele
Interim Provost, Vice-President (Academic)
Dean of Medicine
Memorial University
-30-
Learn more
Follow us on Twitter @GovNL and @HCS_GovNL
Like us on Facebook
Media contacts
Meghan McCabe
Office of the Premier
709-729-3960
meghanmccabe@gov.nl.ca
Laura Thomas
Health and Community Services
709-729-6986, 727-0341
laurathomas@gov.nl.ca
Michelle Osmond
Manager, Digital Communications and Content Management
Memorial University
709-728-2364
mlosmond@mun.ca
BACKGROUNDER
Recent Measures to Address the Shortage of Health Care Professionals
- Committed to a suite of measures to expand the supply of health care professionals: creation of new Collaborative Team Clinics; increase in virtual care services to assist with the provision of urgent care; commitment to further increase the number of graduates from Licensed Practical Nursing Programs by 40 per cent, and Personal Care Attendant Programs by 20 per cent.
- Two new programs launched to support family doctors in the province and help improve access to primary health care:
- The New Family Physician Income Guarantee initiative guarantees a minimum income equivalent to that of a salaried family physician to new family doctors who bill on a fee for service basis and open a family practice clinic – or join an established clinic – for the first two years of their practice. This will ease some of the uncertainty associated with the business aspects of opening a clinic by increasing financial certainty. Funding recipients will be required to enter into a two-year return-in-service (RIS) agreement with government.
- The Family Practice Start-Up Program will provide $100,000 to new family practice physicians who open a family practice clinic, or join an existing family practice in the community, and stay in the practice for five years. Recipients who are approved for both programs must sign a five-year RIS agreement with government. Additionally, both programs will be linked to establishing a patient roster in the community, as well as the provision of after-hours care.
- Initiatives announced in March 2022 to address the challenges facing nurses in the province, including the nursing think tank; RFPs for core staffing review, health HR plan, workforce research; and an Internationally Educated Nurses Bursary.
- A new Assistant Deputy Minister for the recruitment and retention office has been hired and the office has been established within the Department of Health and Community Services.
- An additional five undergraduate seats have been added to the MUN medical School for Newfoundland and Labrador students.
- Launched Extraordinary Every Day, a health care campaign aimed at recruiting and retaining health care professionals.
- Staffing in the Regional Health Authorities has been enhanced to further support recruitment and retention efforts.
- A number of financial incentives and employee supports have been implemented to help address the immediate nursing workforce challenges and help stabilize the workforce.
- Compensation rates for covering ERs in smaller rural health centres (category B facilities) have been increased as a temporary measure until October 31, 2022 to help retain existing physicians at these sites, as well as attract other locum physicians during periods of vacancy. As well, in Labrador, Category A rates were increased in the last MOA agreement.
- A one-year pilot program to help entice retired family physicians to come back to the workforce. Through this program, the Provincial Government will cover the cost of licensing fees and liability protection for eligible retired family physicians, as well as provide a pro-rated rural retention bonus for physicians in eligible communities for every month of service they provide under this program. Additionally, the NLMA will waive membership fees for currently retired physicians who opt to return to practice under the program.