Saskatchewan has seen a significant increase in the number of doctors in the past five years. The Government of Saskatchewan has announced that there are 500 more physicians than there were in 2007.
Greg Ottenbreit, Minister of Rural and Remote Health, says that the increase is the result of different plans to address the shortfall paying off. Increased numbers of training seats, residency positions, and recruitment of international doctors through the SIPPA program are all credited for the increased numbers of doctors practicing.
In terms of international doctors, Ottenbreit says that there used to be a limited number of countries available for recruitment, and the testing was based on a Manitoba model. The development of the Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment (SIPPA) and the SaskDocs recruitment program was intended to have a solution that made sense for this province. He says that it was designed to have a program which recruited doctors who would stay in the province and continue to practice here, especially in rural areas.
“We knew we need a made in Saskatchewan approach to address that part of the plan... When we had international grads previously, we found a very low retention rate because they weren’t used to the culture or whatever the cases were. Now we’re finding that they’re better prepared, they’re ready to go into practice when they go into rural areas specifically.”
Encouraging local graduates to take up practice in a rural area is also a priority, with incentives to get recent graduates to serve in under-served areas in the province. He also says that residency positions in rural areas have been a priority as well, in order to convince doctors to move into those areas.
The increase in training seats has long been something mentioned by the government, but that training doesn’t happen overnight.
“We have a full cohort coming through the college now. When you look back five years when the program started, we’re starting to see a lot of doctors coming out, going into residency positions and starting to finish up. The investment we’ve put into the colleges and increases in funding are paying off.”
More doctors doesn’t necessarily mean enough doctors, Ottenbreit admits, so they will continue to take steps for recruitment.
“We do realize that there’s a lot more to do, we realize that there are a lot of positions still open in rural Saskatchewan so we’re continuing to focus on that.”
Doctors are not the only medical professionals, and Ottenbreit says that they are also focusing on filling nursing positions. A thousand RNs have been hired, up from their goal of 800 new nurses.
“They are the glue that holds these teams together, and we are having success bringing them to the areas where they are needed.”
