Ten medical schools seats moving to Saint John, more seats to be created

10 medical seats moving to Saint John, N.B. Ten medical seats currently offered to N.B. residents through N.L.'s Memorial University are moving to Saint John, N.B.

Ten medical school seats that are currently being offered to New Brunswickers through Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., are moving to Saint John, N.B.

In a news release Monday, the New Brunswick government says the move is part of a plan to increase the number of seats for New Brunswick medical students within the province.

Beginning in the fall of 2023, the 10 seats will be offered at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick on the Saint John campus of the University of New Brunswick.

As a result of the change, Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick will now be able to accept 40 students per year into its program.

“We are committed to doing whatever we can to address the labour force challenges facing our health sector,” said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Trevor Holder in the news release.

“Retention rates for physicians trained within New Brunswick have been much better than for those studying outside the province. This strategic move will improve our chances of having newly trained physicians stay and work here.”

New Brunswick provides funding for 70 medical students each year and, as of the fall of 2023, 64 of these students will be studying within the province. An additional six seats remain available in Quebec.

“We understand the importance of providing the opportunity to train at home to more of our future physicians,” said Health Minister Bruce Fitch. “This is a step in the right direction in terms of securing more physicians for New Brunswick. We remain committed to searching for additional opportunities to get more resources into our health sector.”

The province says this change will result in financial savings for New Brunswick, which will be reinvested, along with new funds, into additional medical seats in New Brunswick.

Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick and le Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau-Brunswick at the Université de Moncton are working together with the provincial government to create these additional seats.

“I am excited that the government has made the decision to invest in training 10 more physicians here in New Brunswick,” said Dr. Jennifer Hall, the associate dean at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick. “We play an important role in developing highly trained physicians and scientists who can help address health priorities that are specific to New Brunswick. I look forward to our continued partnership with the government, Horizon Health Network, and the University of New Brunswick in Saint John that will allow us to work together for better health care for the province.”

Since 2000, the New Brunswick government has funded 10 medical seats per year at Memorial University, when there were no medical programs available in the province.

The final intake of students was this past September. The government will ensure funding continues to allow the students already enrolled to complete their program.

The province says the changes support the new provincial health plan, Stabilizing Health Care: An Urgent Call to Action, which has five action areas. Those include: