N.B. will finally train doctors
After months of uncertainty, Saint John's planned medical education program has a home.
The Saint John College building on the UNBSJ campus will be the home of Saint John's medical education program. On June 3, Post-Secondary Education Minister Ed Doherty announced the program to train doctors will be located in the Saint John College building on the UNBSJ campus, which now houses language courses.
"As a result of this development, I am pleased to announce that the government of New Brunswick will sign the tripartite agreement with Dalhousie University and UNB to bring English-language medical education to the province," Doherty said.
"This English-language program is going to be an ideal complement to the current French-language medical undergraduate program in place with the Université de Sherbrooke at the Université de Moncton."
The agreement will enable Dalhousie University of Halifax to deliver its four-year undergraduate medical program beginning in September 2010.
But Doherty would only commit to having the program in the Saint John College building for the program's first class of students in 2010. While the program will remain on the UNBSJ campus, it could move or expand into other buildings.
That is mainly because the college building is not big enough to house the entire program. Some elements will be located at the nearby Saint John Regional Hospital.
The program, an extension of Dalhousie University's medical school, will accept 30 students a year. Originally scheduled to launch in 2007, it was again close to being delayed.
"This will get us up and running," said Dr. Harold Cook, dean of Dalhousie's faculty of medicine.
"It's a quick fix only in the sense that this allows us "¦ to begin with the 2010 target. If we didn't have something like this very, very soon then it wouldn't have happened."
While Cook expects the college to be the program's permanent home, the arrangement could change.
Cook stressed that the current arrangement will meet the expected high standard.
"We will not be compromising the students by giving them secondary or temporary arrangements that first year," he said.
"This will be a quality setting."
The province will pay Dalhousie to run and manage the program, although a dollar figure has not been announced.
Doherty said the government will spend more than $600,000 this year on the project, but would not comment on permanent funding levels.
Housing the program on the UNBSJ campus was always the original plan.
The initial idea was to construct a new building, but that changed when the provincial government declined to fund it.
That sent officials scrambling to find an alternative location, with the government even issuing a call for a private donation.
Conservative critic Margaret-Ann Blaney says the Liberals have been lagging on the file for close to two years.
She said she worries that looming uncertainty may deter potential students and medical instructors.
"They have to know that the future of this program is secure," said the Rothesay MLA.
"There needs to be a long-term vision. "What happens after 2010? Is this a permanent site?"
UNB president John McLaughlin said the Saint John College building, which is six years old, will be renovated and expanded to accommodate the program.
Existing classes will be moved to other buildings to free up the necessary space.
Aside from the building space, the program will not cost UNB any additional money.
The university will provide items such as library and information technology services, but will be reimbursed by the government.
McLaughlin said the program will serve as an anchor for the university's expanding health education and research programs.
Français: Tôt le mois dernier, le ministre de l'Éducation postsecondaire, Ed Doherty, a annoncé que le programme de formation en médecine sera situé au Collège de Saint-Jean. La formation médicale, en collaboration avec l'École de médecine de Dalhousie, débutera en 2010 et accueillera une trentaine d'étudiants.
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