By Brian Owens, The Courier
The Municipal District of St. Stephen will consider adding scholarships for medical students to its recently created medical professionals recruitment incentives.
Alyssa Long, executive director of the New Brunswick Medical Education Foundation, presented the foundation’s medical scholarship program to council last week, as a potential way to alleviate the town’s doctor shortage in the longer term.
“We have great admiration for what St. Stephen is doing to attract and retain physicians and if this is something they are interested in doing would be delighted to work with them and help,” she said.
The scholarships provide tuition relief to medical students from New Brunswick studying anywhere in Canada, with a legally binding requirement that they return to practice in New Brunswick when they complete their studies for at least the same number of years for which they received support.
The foundation supports around 160 scholarships ranging from $1,500 to $25,000 per year, with 20-40 new ones awarded each year. Around half are tied to specific communities or regions specified by the donors, with the rest free to settle anywhere in the province.
Long said 13 communities, including Moncton, are already sponsoring scholarships, with several more expected to sign up by September. Municipalities or other donors that sponsor a scholarship have plenty of input in shaping the requirements of their award.
“We look to address the community’s needs specifically and then ensure we have a pipeline of talent that can accommodate New Brunswick’s need as a whole,” she said.
Since the scholarships target students entering medical school they are a longer-term solution than the immediate recruitment incentives St. Stephen is currently offering. That policy provides $100,000 to cover the following incentives, paid out in $25,000 instalments each year:
- New family physicians: $125,000 for a five-year commitment
- Established family physicians (out-of-province): $75,000 for a five-year commitment
- Specialist/ER physician: $75,000 for five-year commitment for a job at the Charlotte County Hospital
- International medical graduates: up to $125,000
- Nurse practitioners: $10,000, with two $5,000 payments
- Recruitment consultants: $25,000 limit on the fee for a recruitment consultant.
St. Stephen Mayor Allan MacEachern said the incentives are working well and have already attracted a lot of attention. Several inquiries have been forwarded on to Horizon Health for the next steps in the recruitment process, with three in serious discussions.
“Once Horizon finds the right candidates we will set up a contract for each,” he said.
MacEachern said the scholarship program is an attractive idea once the town’s short-term needs are filled.
“Right now we’re putting out the immediate fire but I definitely see the advantage of getting ahead of the issue,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get to the point where we have doctors and can then use the incentive funding for scholarships.”
