Quote:
Originally Posted by Smevo
Some doctors raise concerns over proposal for new medical school in Cape Breton
It should be noted that both doctors questioning the plan in this story are employed by Dalhousie University's medical school. There are many others that foresaw this response because of Dalhousie's monopoly on medical training in Nova Scotia (possibly even the Maritimes, though I can't remember if UNBSJ's medical school split off from Dalhousie yet). I don't know if a med school at CBU is viable, but with the state of healthcare, at least they're trying to help.
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I have some concerns about all the new small "medical schools" cropping up around the region too.
The only full fledged medical school in the Maritimes remains Dalhousie University.
- UNBSJ is affiliated with Dalhousie
- U de Moncton is affiliated with Sherbrooke
- A new school is coming to UPEI, to be affiliated with Memorial.
- If CBU gets a school too, I imagine it will be affiliated with Dalhousie.
This could mean five campuses in the Maritimes where you could get medical training at.
There are problems in having all these satellite campuses however.
- each satellite campus restricts where their enrolment comes from on either a provincial (or regional) basis. I imagine CBU will restrict enrolment to Cape Bretoners. This means that all medical students from outside mainland NS will be deprived the chance of getting their medical education at Dalhousie's main campus. They will be forced to attend their local medical "school."
- these satellite campuses have bare bones educational resources, and the vast majority of their classes will be delivered via teleconference from the main university they are affiliated with. This limits interaction with the professor, and the limitation of medical educational resources could lead to an inferior educational experience.
- senior medical students (clinical clerks) will spend the majority of their hospital time in smaller regional hospitals with access to fewer sub specialists to act as mentors. Most of the patients will not be as sick, or have the exotic illnesses you often see in larger teaching hospitals. This again limits their clinical experience, and this could have a bearing on which specialty they might become interested in for post graduate training.
- I know the UPEI school has come right out stating that their main focus is on training new general practitioners. This is all well and good, but if all Island medical students are forced to go to UPEI, and this is UPEI's mission, does this mean that Island students will be discouraged from considering specialist training on the mainland? Is this not discriminatory, and will it not risk having fewer specialists in Island hospitals?
I'm from PEI. I went to Dalhousie for medical school, internship and for specialty training. I appreciated the fact that my class had students from all over the region, and I appreciated forming bonds of friendship and collegiality with all these people. I appreciated the sophisticated laboratories at this major medical school, and the depth and breadth of interaction with clinical sub specialists who participated in my clinical training on the hospital floors. I did a couple of electives in Diagnostic Radiology while I was training at Dalhousie, and this had a great influence on my decision to become a diagnostic radiologist. I fear that training in smaller schools with teleconferencing, lack of access to clinical sub specialists and a much reduced pool of interesting patients to practice upon will only create a parochial and substandard educational experience.
I would be more in favour of boosting enrolment at Dalhousie, and at the same time, expanding options for clinical training in the periphery, especially during residency. It is usually during residency that trainee physicians make up their mind about where they would like to practice in any event. If I did a three month rotation in Bathurst and got exposure to the medical staff and resources available in the Chaleur Regional Hospital, it might make me a lot less nervous about considering a position there upon completion of my training. This approach is the opposite of the parochialism i see looming in all these satellite medical schools. Instead, by exposing residents to different work environments around the region, you nurture expanded horizons and openness to new opportunities.
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