The Saskatchewan government announced it will be investing in students within the province to have more opportunities accessing specialized training in high-demand health sciences programs.
The province will invest $5 million this year to reserve up to 149 seats in nine programs offered outside the province through new and updated interprovincial agreements.
“Interprovincial agreements support the train pillar of the Health Human Resources Action Plan and are critical to supporting health care in Saskatchewan,” said Advanced Education Minister Gordon Wyant.
“These agreements create greater access to training and open doors to rewarding health care, careers and opportunities.”
A recent Saskatchewan graduate who completed the speech language pathology program at the University of Alberta is now working at Regina’s Wascana Rehabilitation Centre.
“Saskatchewan has always been my home, so I knew I wanted to come back. So, by completing my training here, I was able to transition relatively smoothly from student to practitioner while knowing I had support and guidance from my colleagues when I needed it,” said Katelin Peters.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned is truly how essential speech language pathologist are within our multidisciplinary health care team and the services that we provide can be life changing for our patients. I’ve also learned that within the health care setting, we’re frequently underrepresented, and every day is an opportunity for education and advocacy.”
In a release, the renewed agreements include seats in Cardiovascular Perfusion, Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Electroneurophysiology, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nuclear Medicine Technology, Occupational Therapy, Prosthetics and Orthotics, and Respiratory Therapy.
The province has also added a new agreement for Speech-Language Pathology that reserves up to 15 seats for students starting this fall and Saskatchewan offers 23 in-province health training programs to approximately 8,900 students annually.
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