The next step in expanding health care in southern Alberta was taken Friday, as the University of Lethbridge signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Calgary.
The signing of the MOU comes in the wake of an announcement from the provincial government in April that they would be putting funding towards establishing Rural Medical Education Program Training Centres across Alberta. One of two the two centres will be located on the U of L campus, with the other being located in Grande Prairie at Northwester Polytechnic. These rural centres are said to give students the chance to earn their U of C medical degree in Lethbridge and students who choose to be based in Grande Prairie will be able to earn their U of A medical degree. With the U of L and U of C signing the MOU they will now be able to move forward with creating a framework for the program.
University of Lethbridge Provost and Vice-President, Dr. Michelle Helstein says the partnership between the two post-secondary institutions will help increase the odds of students who are recruited and trained in southern Alberta, staying and practicing in southern Alberta communities in the future.
“One of the great challenges for families in small- to mid-sized communities in southern Alberta is accessing a family physician. This includes rural and Indigenous communities that struggle with health care capacity,” Helstein says.
The Rural Medical Education Program Training Centres will use a distributed medical education model that will include the two schools developing the regional training campus. The medical training program at the U of L is expected to occupy a major portion of the University’s Centre for Community Wellbeing facility.
