The Saskatchewan government is investing $2 million to expand health education throughout the province.
It was announced Monday morning at the Regina General Hospital that the Saskatchewan Academic Health Sciences Network (SAHSN) would be the recipient of the funding. The money will improve the training for health sciences students and help fill the need for physicians and nurses in Saskatchewan.
One million dollars is coming from both the Ministry of Advanced Education, Employment and Labour and the Ministry of Health.
The money will help SAHSN develop a plan for distributive medical and nursing education. A new plan would allow medical students complete some of their years of study and some residencies in Regina. The program could possibly be expanded into other communities.
Normally all studies are done in Saskatoon, but the new plan will entice people from other areas of the province to go into medical and nursing education if it means being closer to home. Rural areas are constantly in need of doctors. If students get training in smaller communities, they are more likely to stay and work in the area.
“Our government is committed to maintaining Saskatchewan’s strong and steady economy and in order to do this, our province is in need of more doctors,” Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris said in a news release. “It is our hope that the distributive medical education model will help the College of Medicine meet our province’s ever-growing demand for trained physicians.”
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