Lack of space in Canadian medical schools is adding to the country’s doctor shortage. Every year thousands of eligible applicants are turned away from Canadian medical schools, despite our country’s shortage of working physicians.
“We need more seats,” said Dr. Evelyn Sutton, assistant dean of admissions at Dalhousie University. “We get excellent candidates every year, and every year a lot of them get turned down.”
Lora Capobianco, 18, applied to McMaster University’s health sciences program last year, a program that is notably difficult to get into. Capobianco’s average was well above the 90 per cent cut-off, she had completed all the pre-requisite courses, and felt that her community involvement would prove appealing to administrators.
Capobianco was the head prefect in her high school, captain of the soccer team, played lead trumpet in the jazz band, planned the semi-formal dance, hosted a conference for the Canadian Association of Independent Schools, and volunteered on weekends at the McMaster Children’s Hospital.
Despite doing all of this, while at the same time retaining high marks, Capobianco was turned away from the program without explanation.
Capobianco attributed Canada’s doctor shortage to tough enrollment policies at the schools.
“People are becoming discouraged because it’s really competitive,” she explained. “Like 30 per cent, or some really small percentage, actually get chosen. So it’s kind of like, ‘Why bother applying?’”
A 2006 study by the Canadian Institute for Health Information found that there were just over 62,000 practicing physicians in Canada, meaning that there was only one doctor for every 525 citizens. Of those 62,000 doctors, about one-fifth (or 12,400) were over the age of 60 and on their way out of the business.
This doctor deficit has a number of side effects on Canadian healthcare. First, it causes longer wait times.
With less doctors overall, each individual doctor is in higher demand, and his or her time must be spread among a greater number of patients.
So why can’t medical schools just accept more applicants?
There are not enough current doctors to train students in medical schools. Having so few doctors means they are already overworked. For medical schools, this means that they cannot currently accept any more applicants.
For the student hopefuls who still have their hearts set on medical school, Sutton describes “the complete package” as someone who can handle schoolwork as well as extracurriculars.
“Being smart just isn’t enough.”