Why aren't Alberta's family medicine training spots being snapped up?
CBC
The head of the Alberta Medical Association says she's worried about the number of unfilled family medicine residency positions in the province this year.
There are 31 vacant spots at Alberta's two medical schools.
The University of Calgary, which is growing its training seats this year, accounts for the lion's share of those openings.
"It is a bit concerning … that our younger health-care people aren't wanting to go into family medicine," said Dr. Shelley Duggan, president of the Alberta Medical Association (AMA).
Each year at this time, medical school graduates are matched with residency programs around the country.
The first round of matching for this year was completed last week.
At that time, 27 of the University of Calgary's 104 family medicine spots were unfilled. That's the highest number of vacant positions (at this point in the process) in the last 20 years.
Four of the University of Alberta's 73 spots remain unfilled.
"The health-care system in Alberta is quite unstable right now and I think that's impacting people's decisions," said Duggan.
Citing the numbers in a recent letter to AMA members, Duggan said she's worried about recruitment and retention of doctors in the province.
The matching, conducted by the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS), is done in two rounds.
According to service, 9.3 per cent of positions remained unfilled nationally after the first round this year.
At the University of Calgary, 26 per cent remain vacant. At the U of A, it's 5.5 per cent.
CaRMS uses an algorithm that factors in an individual's top picks for specialty and location. It also factors in university preferences.
B.C. craft liquor manufacturers say that the province should remove barriers to their products being sold in provincial liquor stores, as interest grows in homegrown alcohol due to U.S. tariffs.
Two Hamilton police constables racially profiled a young Black man then breached his Charter rights when they detained him and searched his car in 2022, an Ontario Superior Court justice ruled.
As measles cases continue to grow in southwestern Ontario, health officials say people need to make sure they are informed and vaccinated.
The head of the Alberta Medical Association says she's worried about the number of unfilled family medicine residency positions in the province this year.
The City of Kenora is introducing a backyard composting program in an effort to divert food waste from going to the landfill.
A report from the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) in Ontario shows that more than 50 public schools in Waterloo region are below a state of good repair.
Charlottetown's city council is hoping to speed things up when it comes to cleaning up unsightly properties.
Inuvik, N.W.T., will soon see the reopening of a thrift store and a program to employ people and help them build their resumes.
Amid an increasingly heated game of tariff-related chicken, Canadian politicians are in Houston telling Americans they're fed up — in the most stereotypically Canadian way possible.
The Buy Canadian movement has arrived in the country's major grocery stores. You've probably noticed labels with bright red maple leafs, prominent displays stacked with Canadian products or promotional flyers that tout homegrown items.
An Ontario developer is accused of coercing 142 purchasers of pre-construction projects to pay more money for the same homes they purchased up to two years earlier — claims that are now the subject of a disciplinary committee hearing referred by the province's regulatory authority.
Richard Andrews is a straight-talking, fourth-generation farmer near St. Thomas with a simple question for the Ontario government: Why are they offering him below-market rates for land they need for a highway expansion?
Former senior Canadian intelligence officials say Canada needs to be on the lookout for campaigns aimed at destabilizing the country amid U.S. President Donald Trump's escalating 51st state threats.