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The Rural News
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'Keeping the Rural Doctor Informed'
Volume 5 Issue 5
 Next Issue: RMIG
February 28th, 2003
SRP-ON Shows Rural AFP's Work
HAILEYBURY -  The Ontario SRP committee's study released today shows that rural retention can be significantly increased by conversion to contract models with attrition rates falling to 11% per annum.  Historic attrition rates for communities under 10,000 population are in the 20% range. 
  Northern Group Funded Practices were developed in Ontario 5 years ago.  Doctors were hired on contract basis to provide services to patients who lived in defined geographic areas. While the NGFP towns are each an average 0.5 FTE short of a full MD complement, average recruitment rates have been 18%, exceeding attrition. All are at least at the number of doctors that they had under FFS. 
  Although not a feature of the survey, many respondents commented that the contract specifically was responsible for attracting physicians to the communities. 
Rural Nurse Shortage
PORT AUX BASQUES NF- The nursing shortage is affecting many hospitals in rural Canada.  The Gulf News reports that the Dr. Charles LeGrow Hospital in Port aux Basques is down two full time nurses (10%) and has been unable to fill those positions for some time despite extensive recruiting efforts.  Earlier Stanton Hospital in the NWT had trouble keeping its ICU and Obstetrical programs going due to nursing shortages. Meantime hospital's fax machine are being filled with offers from American nurse placement agencies.
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Register for our 11th Conference 
April 24-27th 2003 srpc.ca/RR2003
"Rural health studies must not be seen as an outgrowth of urban-based research and must not be regarded as something that can conveniently be subsumed under other areas of health research."
-Rural Health Research in CIHR 1999
The 'Rural News' is copyright © 2003 Society of Rural Physicians of Canada
Articles published in the rural news are opinion of the author(s) unless specifically identified as SRPC policy
Northern Medical Program Update
PRINCE GEORGE- In September 2004, 24 medical students will be accepted to UBC in the Northern Medical Program housed at UNBC in Prince George.  Dr George Deagle, Vice President (Medicine) at UNBC and Assistant Dean UBC says its all because of community activism. 
  He said "In June 2000 the local multiplex in Prince George was the site where 8,000 people demonstrated for better access to health care. The UNBC president promised the  community he would attempt to get a medical school started.  It was clear that the population wanted their own people to become health care professionals to meet the needs of the north." 
  A memorandum of agreement between UNBC and UBC was signed January 2001 to deal with development of the undergraduate programs in Prince George and surrounding rural towns.  Construction of the $12.5 million Northern Health Sciences centre building is slated to start this spring.Click to view west elevation
  The curriculum will be the standard UBC one but students will be on site in Prince George starting in January 2005 after an initial term at the main UBC campus.  Tele video conferencing will feature prominently with lectures originating at either the Prince George site, the Island Medical Program in Victoria, or UBC.  The local medical establishment has been very supportive and the majority of the teaching in the NMP will be done by northern physicians. 
  Mindful that the existing residency program has been more successful in meeting Prince Georges needs than those of the surrounding rural communities, it is hoped that much of the clinical training will occur out in the rural communities. 
  Admissions will also be important.  The UBC admissions is being reformed and has a firm Aboriginal target of six seats.  UBC is confident in filling these seats staring in 2003 after a successful outreach initiatives including presentations to post secondary Aboriginal students encouraging them to consider a carrer in the health professions.
   UBC is developing a rurality measure for all applicants to medicine to mitigate the existing bias that favours urban applicants who have better access to academic and cultural resources.  Dr Deagle says "Social responsibility will be the guiding force for admissions to the Northern Medical Program."