A new survey has found a gap between the number of MUN School of Medicine grads who originally intended to practice in Newfoundland and Labrador and those who actually stay and set up practice.
The survey was conducted by Dr. Monica Kidd, Dr. Andy O’Keefe and Gerard Farrell this fall. They administered a 25 question survey to Memorial University Faculty of Medicine graduated between 2003 to 2018. Information was collected on demographic information, intended and current location of practice at various stages of training, and experience with recruitment.
It found that of approximately 300 physicians who graduated from Memorial between 2003 and 2018, 78 per cent or 229 doctors indicated that they wanted to work exclusively in the province, or preferred to work in Newfoundland and Labrador over other locations at the beginning of their post-graduate training. However, only 55 per cent or 161 doctors of those surveyed were actually working in this province at the time of the survey.
Dr. Andy O’Keefe says they intend to follow up the survey with further questions to find out more.
He says they’re planning some focus groups and interviews to learn more about possible common barriers or what enabled physicians to set up a successful practice.
