On Sept. 2, the Northern Alberta Medical Program officially welcomed its first cohort of 30 medical students to Northwestern Polytechnic in Grande Prairie, beginning a new chapter in medical education in Alberta.
The new program in Grande Prairie is part of Alberta’s investment of about $376 million over four years to increase the number of graduates from Alberta’s medical schools. Under the Northern Alberta Medical Program, the University of Alberta has partnered with Northwestern Polytechnic to deliver Doctor of Medicine education at the Rural Medical Education Program Training Centre in Grande Prairie. The University of Calgary has partnered with the University of Lethbridge to deliver Doctor of Medicine education through a similar centre now under development in Lethbridge.
The new Rural Medical Education Program Training Centres, which include the Northern Alberta Medical Program and the University of Calgary - University of Lethbridge program, will allow medical students to complete the bulk of their medical education outside Edmonton and Calgary. Once fully operational, there will be 210 more seats provincewide with 120 at the University of Alberta, which offers a four-year program, and 90 more seats at the University of Calgary, which offers a three-year program.
The Northern Alberta Medical Program is one of many ways Alberta’s government is addressing physician shortages and helping to ensure all Albertans can receive timely care no matter where they live. Initiatives that are currently underway so all Albertans can access the care they need as close to home as possible include expanding physician training, implementing a new compensation model for family physicians, a new compensation agreement for medical residents, supporting additional international medical graduates and rural recruitment and retention incentives.
Information provided by the Government of Alberta