It’s a “buyers' market” for physicians, NOSM University head Dr. Sarita Verma told city council members during a presentation at Tuesday’s meeting.
“When our graduates get out ... I can’t force them to stay,” she said, pointing to an ongoing, complex issue for city council to continue tackling.
“Communities need to be open, they need to recruit, they need to be able to bring people in with all kinds of really big opportunities. ... We want Sudbury to be the destination of choice for graduating physicians.”
Although Verma’s presentation highlighted the need to attract and retain doctors, she also pointed to NOSM University’s successes.
Since 2008, 904 physicians have completed either their MD and/or residency at NOSM, of whom 431 (48 per cent) have remained in Northern Ontario. This includes 109 in Sudbury.
Although the Northern Ontario School of Medicine was created in 2002, the medical university with campuses in Sudbury (Laurentian University) and Thunder Bay (Lakehead University) didn’t become Canada’s first fully independent medical university until April 1, 2022.
Despite what Verma described as a common myth that they seized the opportunity to become an independent university in the wake of Laurentian University’s insolvency, it actually put the entire establishment in a difficult position, and made their independence a necessity.
By an act of the Ontario Legislature in 2021, NOSM was granted the authority to become its own university. Almost a year after its official opening on April 1, 2022, Verma said they’re “ready for expansion,” which she said “means there are more students coming into medical education.”
With the entire nation “behind the eight ball” when it comes to physician production, she said there’s great demand for doctors in Northern Ontario.
At a minimum, she said Northern Ontario needs 350 full-time equivalent physicians, of whom 150 are specialists and 200 are family physicians.
The disciplines in highest need are psychiatry, general internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, anesthesia, and obs/gyn.
This, in a work climate where COVID-related burnout means more doctors are retiring, creating a “buyer’s market” for physicians.
This is where Greater Sudbury city council plays an integral role, she said.
“Some of the key questions are, what makes the market and Sudbury more attractive?” she told Sudbury.com following her presentation.
“Everybody's short of having family doctors, everybody's short of physicians, and so many communities have come up with packages like housing, opportunities to get preferential mortgages, schooling where they demonstrate that their schools are of higher quality,” she said. “Those professionals want their kids to go to high quality schools, and opportunities for turnkey office operations ... fully equipped with other health professionals, like pharmacies and labs.”
If not in Greater Sudbury, she cautioned city council that they can find this scenario in Toronto.
NOSM University has more than 1,800 faculty across Northern Ontario. Within last year’s Government of Ontario’s medical school expansions announcement, NOSM University will see 30 new MD and 41 residency spots added over the next five years.
The university currently enrolls 74 MD students per year between their Sudbury and Thunder Bay locations. With approximately 2,000 applications per year, their acceptance rate is less than four per cent.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
