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Health Minister Dave Chomiak today announced a new $5.8 million Medical Student/Resident Financial Assistance Program to help improve the retention of Manitoba medical graduates and increase the number of family practitioners and specialists in Manitoba.

Beginning in July, the financial assistance program, administered by the Department of Advanced Education, will be available to medical students enrolled in their third and fourth years, as well as residents in family medicine and speciality programs. The program will offer conditional grants to reduce their debt load in return for service in Manitoba after graduation.

"This initiative is the next step in our comprehensive Physician Resource Plan," said Chomiak. "We have recruited trained physicians, expanded the number of student positions in the faculty of medicine, launched a large rural physician campaign to address the problem of under-serviced areas and offered a program for international medical graduates. By offering financial assistance, our goal is to increase the retention rates of Manitoba medical graduates."

Through this program, a family medicine resident could receive up to $50,000 in financial assistance and a resident in other medical specialities could receive up to $70,000. In lieu of repayment, each physician will return one year of service in Manitoba for each year financial assistance was received. This could result in up to four years in return of service from each of these new physicians.

"We expect this program will provide welcome financial relief to our medical students," said Dr. Wil Fleisher, associate dean of postgraduate medical education. "Education-related expenses cost medical students approximately $12,000 to $15,000 per year, excluding living expenses. As well, by the third and fourth years, their educational commitments prevent students from obtaining employment so they have no way of reducing their debt load. At the end of the four-year undergraduate medical program, that debt load could average from $75,000 to $100,000."

The program has two options: Educational Assistance and Under-serviced Area Practice Assistance.

In the Educational Assistance option, 10 grants of $15,000 will be available to third year medical students with an interest in rural medical practice. In lieu of repayment, these physicians will practice in a rural community in Manitoba for one year.

The number of $15,000 conditional grants available to fourth-year students is unlimited and the one-year return of service commitment may be in rural or urban sectors of Manitoba.

Medical residents in the family medicine residency program can access $20,000 in the second (final) year of the residency program. Residents in a medical speciality residency program can access two $20,000 conditional grants during the four to six years of their residency program. These physicians will return one year of service anywhere in Manitoba for each year a conditional grant was received.

"The service commitment in lieu of repayment is likely to make the field of medicine and medical practice in Manitoba more attractive to students considering this profession," said Dr. Oscar Casiro, associate dean of undergraduate medical education. "Also, providing the opportunity to practice while reducing their financial obligations will help Manitoba add to the availability of locally trained doctors."

In the second part of the program, the Under-serviced Area Practice Assistance, any Manitoba medical graduate interested in establishing a practice in an area of need in Manitoba may access a $15,000 conditional grant. Need may be based on the geographic area or the area of specialization.

The minister pointed out that medical students can only access one of the financial assistance options. A student who participates in the Educational Assistance option cannot receive assistance through the Under-serviced Area Practice Assistance plan. Also, physicians who do not fulfil their return of service commitment will be required to repay the total amount of financial assistance received, plus interest.

"By making it more attractive to study medicine here and stay in Manitoba after graduation, Manitobans will reap the benefits of more locally trained doctors who will remain in our province permanently," said Chomiak.

A doctor's education includes a bachelor of science degree (usually four years) followed by an undergraduate program (usually four years). That is followed by a residency training program, which ranges from two years for family medicine to six years for a specialist residency program. The cost to government for this training ranges from $225,000 to complete the family medicine program to $450,000 to complete the specialist program. These figures include payments to the faculty of medicine and the resident's salaries. It does not include the student's tuition or living expenses.

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