Several dozen medical students gathered in Queens Park March 28 demanding that the legislature lower tuition costs in the province.
The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) and the Ontario Medical Students’ Association (OMSA), which represents around 3,000 medical students in the province, have released a joint statement condemning tuition hikes and suggests capping tuition increase at the rate of inflation.
“Ten years ago tuition was manageable,” said OMSA co-chair Kyle Cullingham. “After deregulation in the 1990s the momentum shifted and tuition costs have gone up 287 per cent, deterring a high portion of qualified students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.”
“There’s no reason to believe lowering these fees would reduce the quality of education,” Cullingham said.
Medical school tuition has climbed from $4,977 to $17,371 between 1997 and 2010, according to an OMSA press release.
In Quebec the same professional programs have been kept under $10,000.
OMSA mentioned in a press release that a major concern was the effect tuition hikes will have on diversity in medical schools.
“Students in graduate and professional programs sometimes get treated like cash cows. It costs a lot more to train a doctor, but students have limited information about what our tuition is a reflection of. It could be to leverage other programs or the university could be using it pay off its own debts,” said Ashley Miller, vice-president (advocacy) for the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS).
Miller explained that these debts are discouraging for everyone, and prospective medical students are second-guessing whether or not to pursue certain specialities because of the costs.
“Most of us have financial planners. People have no idea the repercussions this debt load will have on you. It’s an enormous psychological burden,” Miller said.
“The provincial government has made some positive contributions but the feedback we are getting is that it’s not enough,” Cullingham said.
Miller said she thought tuition should ideally be more regulated, but the sacrifices needed to do so would be unpopular. “Lowering tuition costs requires at least a four to 10 year investment,” she said. “Whoever initiated it now probably wouldn’t get credit for it later.”
“There is a lot of ground to make up but we are optimistic that our arguments will be heard,” Miller said.
The Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities could not be reached for comment.
