Pause on UPEI medical school sought by group representing Island physicians

The group representing about 400 physicians and medical learners on P.E.I. is recommending a pause on the medical school at the University of Prince Edward Island until specific impacts on the health-care system can be addressed.

Dr. Krista Cassell said it's not that the Medical Society of P.E.I. (MSPEI) is against the school,but it has ongoing concerns about the timeline.

"The needs are quite significant," Cassell, the group's president, said in an interview with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.

"There are a good number of physicians required and a good number of infrastructure changes that are needed in the very near future in order to make this work."

The university plans to launch its medical program by taking in 20 undergraduate students in fall 2025, initially operating as a satellite campus for the medical program at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

By 2026, UPEI plans to offer a joint medical degree with Memorial University once the program receives approval from the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission.

A report released last month by Spindle Consulting suggested the medical school would require 135 doctors to devote 20 per cent of their work time to teaching. 

P.E.I. currently has a shortage of about 50 physicians, and there are more than 36,000 people on the patient registry waiting for a family doctor.

The report projects that without changes in recruitment, retention and doctor complement levels, the province will fall short of having the required number of doctors on hand to participate in teaching duties.

"While this is a roadmap to get us there, we haven't actually met yet and had conversations about how we put this plan into action and we look forward to this," Cassell said.

"Certainly at this time, MSPEI is suggesting that we pause on any plan until we get the foundational work in place and that certainly continues to be our opinion — that this needs more time and work to develop the pathway forward."

MSPEI is a partner with the strategic health system integration committee, which examines the integration of medical learning into the P.E.I. health system. It also had a role in the selection of Dr. Preston Smith as the school's dean of medicine.

But Cassell said the physician community at large has "not been widely consulted or heard."

There is not just a shortage of physicians, she said. Those physicians may need specialized teams and equipment, or access to operating room time, which are all in short supply.