New SFU medical school will have dedicated family doctor training program

The Government of British Columbia Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills Selina Robinson has confirmed that Simon Fraser University’s new medical school will help address the family doctor shortage with a program that focuses specifically on family and community medicine. Robinson said that the program will be modelled after Queen’s University and Lakeridge Health’s physician training program. It will also focus on providing Indigenous communities with care. UBC Assistant Professor Dr Rita McCracken said that though a dedicated family doctor training program is a positive step, the way in which primary care is delivered should be rethought to ensure that family physicians are encouraged to go into longitudinal community-based primary care.