Medical school would be a big help in city, too

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/01/2012 (5352 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“It’s a bigger deal to communities outside of Brandon. This isn’t really about Brandon. It’s about the communities out there that are having a really difficult time recruiting primary care physicians.”

<*R>— Brandon Regional Health Authority

CEO Brian Schoonbaert

A Wednesday night public consultation regarding the prospect of a medical school at Brandon University proved that support for the idea among rural Westman communities is growing.

With the many difficulties that the Assiniboine Regional Health Authority has had in recruiting and retaining doctors and other medical staff over the years, it’s no wonder that small communities see the creation of a medical school in Brandon as a potential solution.

As the Sun reported yesterday, Brandon University president Deborah Poff and BU research assistant Amy Wyntjes presented information based on research of rural or small city universities that have established either their own medical schools or have a joint medical school with a larger university — two of the same options currently under consideration for BU.

That research included a report that found doctors often decide to practise within 70 kilometres of the university where they are educated.

In attendance on Wednesday night was the Brandon RHA’s CEO, Brian Schoonbaert, who noted that such a medical school so close to the Brandon Regional Health Centre could offer some benefits.

And while he noted such a facility would likely create “a very strong partnership” between the university and the RHA, he had no particular preference for either an independent medical school or a joint program with another university.

We happen to agree with Schoonbaert — in our opinion, having doctors trained locally here in western Manitoba is far more important than which university is in charge of the program — BU or the University of Manitoba.

But in stating that such a medical school is more important to rural communities than to the city of Brandon, we suggest Schoonbaert has rather missed the mark.

We have no doubt that doctors trained in Westman would be more likely to settle down to practise in small but growing communities like Rivers, Souris and Carberry, or even a joint hospital between Minnedosa and Neepawa — if that ever comes to pass.

These communities need local physicians to provide vital care in a timely fashion. Having a doctor an hour away in Brandon is simply unacceptable, especially in emergency situations where treating a patient early can mean the difference between life and death.

Here in Brandon, we are privileged to have a fine emergency room and modern health-care facilities, not to mention many doctors’ clinics scattered around the city. But like other Westman communities, Brandon has not been without doctor shortages, especially in more specialized areas such as urology and pediatrics.

Also, the benefits of having a medical school in our midst go beyond just filling physician vacancies for Brandon. For the university, it means a new era of student education, and the prestige that comes from being a medical university.

And as Poff noted, a similar such facility at the University of Northern British Columbia generated $37 million in economic spinoffs for Prince George, B.C.

We have no doubt that the entire region would benefit from such a facility. We can only hope that when and if Premier Greg Selinger and his ministers get the province’s financial books in order, the province will offer more than tepid support for the plan.