Despite report concerns, officials betting on UPEI med school

The currently under-construction University of Prince Edward Island medical school will need dozens of doctors over the next nine years — 23 in the next 18 months alone — but officials behind the school maintain it’s the only way forward for the Island’s health-care system.

The hum of construction is ever-present at the site of the new medical school, which is set to accept its first class fall 2025.

The newly-released, 120-page Spindle Report detailed the challenges the school will face, painting a concerning picture of the health-care system.

There are currently 50 physician vacancies on P.E.I., with just 293 doctors on the island.

The report estimates even more would be required to teach students. Ninety-two doctors are currently practicing and there will be 43 new hires by 2034, both spending 20 per cent of their time teaching.

The authors acknowledge current hiring rates won’t fill this need.

“Recruitment is a real, and retention, is a real challenge, and an issue,” said Corinne Rowswell, interim Health PEI CEO. “And top of mind for all of us.”

When fully up and running, the school is expected to cost another $40 million a year in doctors’ salaries alone.

However, officials say integrating a medical school into Health PEI is the only way forward for the medical system.

“Doctors choose to practice where they’re from and where they train,” said Dr. Preston Smith, dean of UPEI’s Faculty of Medicine. “They choose to stay where they can teach, so the very presence of the medical school is in fact a recruitment and retention incentive.”

The med school would also require the creation of 21 residency spots for doctors in training, replacing seven spots on the island for Dalhousie students.

There is a lack of training opportunities in some specialities, because the population is simply too small for residents in those areas to be able to practice the skills of more niche procedures.

The dean says that is, in part, strategic. The school is designed to focus on training family doctors and general specialists, the highest demand areas on P.E.I.

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