Sask. medical school fills residency seats for first time in years

In the midst of a doctor shortage, there could be a glimmer of hope for future doctors training in the province.

Paul Merriman, Saskatchewan’s minister of health, said the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine has seen significant success, filling all 128 residency seats this year.

Those seats have increased from 60 in the province over the past 15 years.

The increase in the number of residency seats, Merriman said, came out of a desire to have as many medical school graduates training in Saskatchewan as possible.

Merriman said the success shows that the college is a priority for students who are choosing to come to Saskatchewan.

“This hasn’t happened for quite a few years. It’s exciting; it shows that people are very invested into this college,” Merriman told reporters on Friday.

Preston Smith, dean of the College of Medicine, said there are two sides to the matching process. The college, he said, wants to see its medical school graduates successfully getting into the residency programs of their choice. It also wants people to come to Saskatchewan’s residency programs and fill those seats.

More than 93 per cent of U of S medical school graduates matched with a residency position in the first round, Smith shared, calling it “pretty exciting” and the first time the college has exceeded the national mean.

Smith also explained that by the end of the second round of matches, 100 per cent of Saskatchewan’s residency seats had been filled.

With family medicine seats across Canada remaining vacant, Smith said it was especially remarkable to see Saskatchewan fill all its seats.

“We were … one of few medical schools in the country that filled all our family medicine spots in the first round,” Smith said.

Merriman also said that over the past few years 80 per cent of students who have graduated from the U of S College of Medicine have stayed in Saskatchewan.

“That’s the ultimate benefit for us,” Merriman said.