Saskatchewan recruitment, retention efforts lead to 900 more physicians since 2007 - a 51% increase

The provincial government says its recruitment and retention efforts have paid off. It shows that since 2007, there was a 51% increase in the number of physicians in the province. There are more than 2,600 licensed physicians now practicing in the province. The province says it continues to heavily recruit pediatricians leading up to the opening of its Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital. The number of pediatricians practicing in the province went from 62 to 123 in 11 years. The province boasts these initiatives led to the increased number of physicians, including:

• One of the best physician compensation rates in the country;
• Training more doctors by increasing the College of Medicine’s undergraduate seats from 60 to 100, and doubling the number of residencies to 120;
• Establishing more family medicine resident training sites (outside of Regina and Saskatoon) led to a 79% retention rate for family physicians; and
• Recruiting over 200 internationally trained physicians, 77% of whom are working in rural or regional communities.