More residency opportunities could mean more doctors in N.B., Saint John med student says

A medical student in Saint John says offering training opportunities in more disciplines would help increase the number of doctors in the province.

"It would be fantastic if we had more residency program options," said Mansa Agbaku, a second-year student at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick.  

According to the provincial Health Department, current in-province residency opportunities include internal medicine in Saint John and Moncton, family medicine in Saint John, Fredericton, Greater Moncton and Miramichi, integrated family and emergency medicine in Saint John, and psychiatry in Moncton.

"If we could work on getting some more different disciplines here so that people could study after medical school in their home province, I think that that would be incredibly helpful to our retention strategies and keeping doctors here," said Agbaku.

She said she has no doubts about where she wants to practise medicine.

"I know that I will be coming back to New Brunswick. That is my one goal. I love Saint John. I was born and raised here, and this place is my home."

But first, she's focused on a journey of exploration.

"I'm trying to shadow as many different disciplines and different physicians as I can before I make this decision of what kind of doctor that I want to be."

Scholarship aims to keep med students in N.B.

Agbaku is one of this year's recipients of a scholarship from the New Brunswick Medical Education Foundation. It is a private scholarship program dedicated to covering the costs of young doctors who pledge to work in the province.

She doesn't know how many of her classmates want to stay in the area but says a recent increase in class size should help improve those numbers.

"This year we have 40 students and in the past years we've had 30," she said. "The more students that we can get through the program, I think the better our odds are of having students stay after they've finished their studies."

Scholarships have made it a lot easier for Agbaku to pursue her career goals, she said.

"Oh my gosh, they've made a world of difference for me. Especially where the cost of going to school has become so high, as well as the cost of living — having financial support, anything that can help you start out even an inch ahead is really helpful."

The value of education, and the drive to be the best at what you do and to be a good person, were instilled in her by her parents, who moved to Canada from Ghana to raise their family, Agbaku said.

"Those are some lessons that have really taken with me," she said. "I always try and look back and think on how I can give back to my community."

Dal spokesperson on factors that determine residencies

Jason Bremner, a spokesperson for Dalhousie University, told CBC News in an emailed statement that creating residency training positions is done collaboratively each year between the Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine, the Department of Health and the Horizon Health Network.

"There are several elements that factor into residency seats, such as funding level, projected need in the province, and physician training capacity," said Bremner. 

"Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick admits 40 New Brunswick students each year, giving them the opportunity to study medicine in their home province, with a proven track record of graduates choosing to continue their residency training, and ultimately practise medicine in New Brunswick." 

Asked whether developing more residency seats is a priority for the faculty, Bremner said: "The development of residency positions is an ongoing and annual discussion with the Department of Health."