Courtesy Université de Moncton

Four new medical seats for New Brunswick will be added at the Université de Moncton (Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau-Brunswick or CFMNB) starting in 2023.

The Higgs government will contribute $172,000 annually for the four seats which will provide medical training in French in a partnership with the Université de Sherbrooke.

This is in addition to the $4.8 million already committed for the medical doctorate program at U de M.

“This investment will allow even more New Brunswickers to study medicine in the province which increases our chances of retaining them after graduation,” said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Trevor Holder.

“Physicians are key to delivering timely and effective health-care services, and we are fortunate to have CFMNB’s world-class institution here in New Brunswick. We thank them for working with us to address our human resources challenges and we look forward to a continued partnership,” said Health Minister Bruce Fitch.

“This program is part of the deep-rooted, 30-year relationship between the university and the Province of New Brunswick and reflects our commitment to supporting expanded access to French language medical services and education across the Maritimes,” said Université de Sherbrooke president Pierre Cossette.

The number of medical seats at U de M now rises from 24 to 28.

Starting next year, there will be 40 medical seats at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick and three each at Université Laval and Université de Montréal for a provincewide total of 74 medical seats.

“This announcement is an important step forward for the recruitment and retention of new physicians in Acadia,” said Denis Prud’homme, Université de Moncton president and vice-chancellor.

“We are optimistic that this is just the beginning and we thank our valued partners who allow us to provide medical training here at home, in French.”

The province says it is also working to identify opportunities to add additional seats at U de M and Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick at UNBSJ.