Latest News Coverage
Ontario government urged to help young doctors
CFCO AM Mon 23 Apr 2007
The Ontario Medical Association and other groups are urging the Ontario government to cut young doctors a break in paying back student loans; otherwise they may head to other provinces promising financial breaks. The Ontario Association of Interns and Residents suggests deferring interest on student loans. Medical students are meeting with Health Minister George Smitherman on the issue.
Young doctors say Ontario driving medical students to other needy provinces
CHWI (A-Channel) Mon 23 Apr 2007
Kris Lenhardt from the Ontario Association of Interns says Ontario should defer interest on student loans to medical students. Four other provinces have taken similar initiatives. Nam Lee from the OMA Student Association says medical student debt can be as much as $150
thousand. They have met with Health Minister Smitherman and other MPPS to talk about solutions.
Loan deferment sought
CTV/CFTO TV Mon 23 Apr 2007
The OMA wants the government to defer student loan payments until new doctors have finished their residencies.
Med students will meet with Health Minister George Smitherman to discuss loan debt interest deferment
CTV/CKCO TV Mon 23 Apr 2007
Young doctors say Ontario is driving med school graduates into the arms of other needy provinces. Some provinces are deferring the interest on medical student loans until after residency training and Ontario should do the same they say. The Ontario Medical Association
says students often graduate with $150,000 in debt and Ontario should step in to keep them from losing the best and the brightest graduates.
Young doctors need help to deal with their debt
CJBK AM Mon 23 Apr 2007
Young doctors say they need the province's help to deal with their mounting debt. Lee says medical students have seen their tuition triple in recent years and many graduates have a debt of over $150,000.
Doctors call on Ontario to defer their mounting debt like other provinces
Canadian Press Mon 23 Apr 2007
TORONTO (CP) _ Ontario is driving medical graduates into the arms of other needy provinces by not giving students a break on the interest of their provincial loans, young doctors said Monday…
Province urged to give young doctors a break with loans
CBC Radio 1 (Sudbury) Mon 23 Apr 2007
The province is being urged to give young doctors a break when it comes to paying back student loans. The OMA and other groups say if they don't do this, the young doctors will continue to seek the financial breaks offered in other provinces.
Ont. Med Students and Residents Call for Programs Available in Other Provinces
Canada News-wire Mon 23 Apr 23 2007
Ontario falling behind several other provinces in Canada that have implemented interest deferral plans to ensure medical school accessibility.
TORONTO, April 23 /CNW/ - The Ontario Medical Association (OMA), Ontario Medical Student Association (OMSA) and the Professional Association of Internes and Residents of Ontario (PAIRO) are calling on the provincial government to help new doctors in Ontario by deferring payment and interest accrual on student loans until after residency training is completed.
"Deferring interest would help ease the burden of student debts and allow medical residents to focus on their training," said Dr. Kris Lehnhardt, President of PAIRO. "Other provinces across the country have already taken this step. We need to make sure that Ontario remains competitive by relieving this added financial burden."
Deferral of interest on medical student loans until after residency training has already been implemented in Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Quebec and most recently, Alberta.
"The average medical resident carries a debt of over $150,000 and resident salaries have not increased alongside the rise in medical school tuition. In order to cope with this, medical students are choosing higher paying specialties over family medicine," said Tyler Christie, Chair of OMA Medical Student Association. "A debt deferral initiative would make family medicine more attractive and allow residents to concentrate fully on their patients instead of worrying about their debts."
The OMA, OMSA and PAIRO believe that the high cost of tuition for medical school and the sizeable debt loads students face act as barriers for bright and qualified students from lower income families. The 2004 National Physician Survey found that rising tuition has decreased the number of students who come from lower income backgrounds, thus limiting the access of qualified Canadians to become doctors. According to the OMA and PAIRO a debt deferral plan would be a step in the right direction to help diversify medical school candidates.
In March 2007, the OMSA and PAIRO met with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to illustrate the challenges that residents face, given that half of their take-home pay is devoted to paying off debt. Today, more than 50 medical students and residents took time from their studies to advocate on behalf of the trainees in the six medical schools across Ontario.
"Debt interest deferral in Ontario is important because it would allow us to catch up to other provinces in this regard," said Dr. David Bach, President of the OMA. "In addition, it will help address the fact that the cost of a medical education should stay within reach of students from all socio-economic backgrounds."
Young doctors call on Ontario to defer their mounting debt like other provinces
Canadian Press Newswire
Monday, April 23, 2007
TORONTO (CP) _ Ontario is driving medical graduates into the arms of other needy provinces by not giving students a break on the interest of their provincial loans, young doctors said Monday.
Other provinces like Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Alberta are deferring the interest on medical student loans until after residency training and Ontario should do the same, they said.
``We have evidence now that Ontario is falling behind,'' said Kris Lehnhardt, president of the Professional Association of Internes and Residents of Ontario.
``What we'd like the government to do is to take action and make sure we stay competitive with other provinces.''
Ontario is short more than 2,000 family doctors and must hold on to its best and brightest graduates, Lehnhardt said.
``But Ontario is not the only province that is short of doctors,'' said Lehnhardt, an emergency room resident based in London, Ont. ``That's why we're encouraging the Ontario government to examine strategies that will retain the doctors we train in our province as well as attract newly trained doctors to Ontario.''
Nam Le, vice-chair of the Ontario Medical Association's student section, said the mounting debt facing medical students is becoming a significant determinant in where graduates practice medicine.
Students _ whose tuition has tripled in recent years leaving them with a debt of around $150,000_ can go to Newfoundland and have the interest on their provincial loan paid until they have completed their residency, Le said.
``Losing doctors to other provinces just on this basis of interest deferral should be a concern for the government of Ontario,'' he said.
A group of medical students is meeting with Health Minister George Smitherman and other opposition politicians Monday to advance their case.
Medical students' huge debt
Ontario is driving medical graduates into the arms of other needy provinces by not giving students a break on the interest of their provincial loans, young doctors said Monday. Other provinces like...
Brantford Expositor (On) - Wed, Apr 25, 2007
Health Minister agrees to look at deferring medical student debt and more
St. Catharines Standard (On)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
It's time Ontario looked at giving medical students a break on the interest of their provincial loans to keep them from fleeing to other provinces in need of physicians, Health Minister George Smitherman said Monday.
Young doctors met with Smitherman urging him to consider following the lead of Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Alberta who defer the interest on medical student loans until after residency training.
But Smitherman said that's just one of the ways he'd like the province to keep young doctors here.
"It's an idea that's time has come and we'll be working with them to see what we can do on this and perhaps even more," he said.
"I want to make sure that any initiative that we take has the effect of keeping more of our doctors here.... If we need to use tools like this as incentives, we'll obviously be very, very interested in targeting those towards the ones that are actually staying."
Medical students have been lobbying for a deferral of interest on provincial loans for some time, saying Ontario is driving medical graduates into the arms of other provinces by not giving students a break.
At a time when Ontario is short more than 2,000 family doctors, they say it has to hold on to its best and brightest graduates.
"Instead of just looking to match other provinces, I'd rather work with them and try and make Ontario the gold standard," Smitherman said. "I probably shouldn't be raising expectations but I think it's a really crucial issue."
Kris Lehnhardt, president of the Professional Association of Internes and Residents of Ontario, said he was "very encouraged" after the meeting but hopes to see action from the government sooner rather than later.
The province could go beyond interest deferral and help students by paying some of the interest on their federal loans, as well as launching a more aggressive recruitment campaign, he said.
"We have evidence now that Ontario is falling behind," said Lehnhardt, an emergency room resident based in London, Ont. "What we'd like the government to do is to take action and make sure we stay competitive with other provinces.
"Ontario is not the only province that is short of doctors."
Nam Le, vice-chair of the Ontario Medical Association's student section, said the mounting debt facing medical students is becoming a significant determinant of where graduates practice medicine.
Students - whose tuition has tripled in recent years leaving them with a debt of around $150,000 - can go to Newfoundland and have the interest on their provincial loan paid until they have completed their residency, Le said.
Health Minister agrees to look at deferring medical student debt
It's time Ontario looked at giving medical students a break on the interest of their provincial loans to keep them from fleeing to other provinces in need of physicians, Health Minister...
Daily Miner & News - Tue, Apr 24, 2007
High cost of med school not a concern for Armed Forces recruits
The Ottawa Sun
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
For students who get their acceptance letters from Canadian medical schools, the next questions are where to go and how to pay -- because no matter where they study, it's going to cost them.
A quick calculation of what years of medical school will run them -- with most Canadian schools costing between $10,000 and $17,000 per year in tuition alone -- will leave many realizing they are more than a few pennies short.
As a result, some of these soon-to-be doctors consider joining the Armed Forces where they will have their tuition paid for, start earning a yearly salary that escalates while they progress through school and be given a hefty signing bonus of up to $180,000.
Alex Duong, who's in his second year of medical school at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont., decided to pursue medicine after finishing a degree in computational biology. After spending a year in medical school, and being inspired by friends who had gone into the Forces before him, he decided to follow at the start of his second year.
Duong, 24, said he saw a lot of benefits, including the opportunity to develop leadership skills, the chance to give back to his community, as well as the financial security.
"I think it'll be a good experience," he said.
While his family and friends were "hesitant" about supporting a choice that could put him in dangerous situations, he says they came around.
"To me, the danger aspect of working in Afghanistan ... if it wasn't something I was willing to accept then I would not have signed up."
In exchange for enlisting, the students guarantee four years service to the military which begins as soon as they finish their training.
For Steven Joseph, who had seen a bit more of life before he signed up, the decision to join the military wasn't as easy as it was for Duong.
Originally from Lethbridge, Alta., the 29-year-old first-year medical student already had a career and a marriage under his belt before he ever thought about medicine -- or the military.
He was an economics lecturer at the University of Lethbridge, but became restless in what he was doing with his life. "I liked teaching enough," Joseph said. "But I found I wasn't challenged enough every day."
So after setting his sights on something new, he was accepted to the University of Calgary for the fall of 2006 -- and somehow, by the start of his next semester, he'd up and joined the army.
"Most people are a little tentative," said Joseph, who is the only person in his class of 140 to sign up for the military.
"Once you make (the decision)," he said, "you know what you're doing for the next few years."
Lt.-Col. Randy Russell, who helps recruit doctors for the Canadian Forces, said that when students look at their bank accounts and their choices, they think to themselves that they can "make this work."
And with the Forces now expanding recruitment due to staffing needs in Afghanistan and recently opening up eligibility to first-year med students for the first time, the combination of a debt-free education and a guaranteed salary is becoming more attractive.
"We've made medical school significantly more accessible for Canadians," Russell said.
The military has had some difficulty in attracting physicians over the years, in part because doctors are better compensated if they go into private practice.
Now, it has boosted salaries, tripled its hiring through 2009, and it will refund medical students for any tuition they have paid before having signed up in a given year.
Up until last April, the military had about two-thirds of what it needed in family physicians -- only 100 doing the work of 150. With these new recruitment strategies in place, it's hoping to change that.
"We're recruiting full-speed ahead," Russell said, noting that even with a small target of 24-25 family physician recruits nationwide this year, those interested are unlikely to be turned away.
"If in fact, a person wished to join tomorrow who approached me from a medical school and they are in good standing at their medical school and they are medically fit and physically fit, they could be enrolled in two or three weeks," he said.
Joseph said the challenges and benefits that come with going into army medicine are what drew him to the job.
"The military kind of offers a nice variety," said Joseph, who admits looking forward to both his duties in the office and in the field. "You get to help out a lot of different cultures and people."
Like Duong's relatives, some of Joseph's family and friends had reservations. His father liked the idea, while his mother was proud of him but didn't want to see him hurt.
"I didn't make the decision on my own," he said. "I discussed it at length with my wife."
But once he had decided, he signed up for duty and he is now committed to the military until 2015. And for him, it is not a problem.
"A lot of people leave after their (four-year) commitment," he said. "I'm planning to stay here long term."
MD shortage; Debt relief a sound strategy
The Windsor Star Mon 30 Apr 2007
Ontario's critical shortage of doctors has plagued the province's health care system for years as medical graduates continue to accept competitive offers in other parts of the country and the United States.
The province is short more than 2,000 family doctors, and that void is especially felt in Windsor and Essex County, where the lack of family physicians and those specializing in geriatric medicine has left an aging population scrambling to get proper medical attention.
Although Windsor-area hospitals have been aggressively recruiting doctors, specialists and surgeons, the shortfall persists. Windsor and surrounding Essex, Kent and Lambton counties have the worst doctor shortages in Southwestern Ontario.
The University of Windsor is hoping to alleviate some of those problems with its new medical school and a $120-million research centre. The Windsor satellite of the University of Western Ontario's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry will open in the fall of 2008 with 24 students. The province will fund a total of 96 student spaces, and the university is hoping to double that number with the help of a $20-million addition to the Toldo Health Education Centre.
But 96 future doctors won't solve the health care crisis in Windsor or the rest of Ontario. That is why the province must do everything it can to retain doctors trained in Ontario and attract more physicians from other parts of the country.
Last week, the Professional Association of Interns and Residents of Ontario (PAIRO) and the Ontario Medical Student Association (OMSA) called on the province to help new doctors by deferring interest accrual on their provincial student loans until they complete residency training. The organizations' representatives met with Health Minister George Smitherman and told him the province could also pair that interest relief with a more aggressive recruitment campaign to get better results.
Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Alberta are already giving medical graduates a break on their loan interests and Ontario needs to catch up, PAIRO president Dr. Kris Lehnhardt said.
"We have evidence now that Ontario is falling behind," he said. "What we'd like the government to do is to take action and make sure we stay competitive with other provinces."
The OMSA issued a news release, saying medical students are choosing higher-paying specialties over family medicine in order to offset their debt loads. The average medical resident in Ontario carries a debt of more than $150,000, said OMSA chair Tyler Christie.
"A debt-deferral initiative would make family medicine more attractive and allow residents to concentrate fully on their patients instead of worrying about their debts," he said.
Smitherman was receptive, saying he will look at the possibility of debt deferral as one of the incentives for young doctors. He said he'd like to make Ontario "the gold standard" when it comes to holding on to medical graduates.
These discussions will hopefully translate into action soon because government officials can't afford to mull over this proposal for too long. The cost of dithering is measured in human terms as people wait for, or go without, essential and ongoing care.
As Lehnhardt said, Ontario is not the only province that needs doctors. Unless it mimics the recruitment and retention measures of other provinces, Ontario will fall farther and farther behind.
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