Election promises fall flat with students

Both the SaskParty and the NDP have promised incentives to retain doctors and nurses in the province if elected. Photo by Sarah Ritchie.

by Sarah Ritchie

The provincial election campaign is now in full swing, and both major parties have promised to ensure Saskatchewan-trained nurses and doctors stay in the province.

The NDP platform includes $24 million in breaks for doctors to work in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Party has promised to forgive up to $120,000 in student loans for doctors who work in remote, rural and northern Saskatchewan communities for five years.  The party has also promised up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness for nurses and nurse practitioners who do the same.

But some students are skeptical of the value of the incentives being offered.

“I think it sounds great on paper when you hear, ‘Okay - I’m going to get $20,000 off my tuition,’” said Heather Trainor, a third-year nursing student and president of SIAST’s Nursing Students Association.

“Then you read that it has to be in a remote, rural location or northern Saskatchewan. Are you talking about somewhere where there’s no cell coverage, because it’s that remote?”

Many nursing positions in northern Saskatchewan offer isolation bonuses already, and Trainor pointed out that jobs in northern communities usually pay quite well. But the type of jobs offered in rural and northern communities are limited by a lack of equipment and services.

“One of the problems with Saskatchewan right now is that they don’t offer all of the (medical) residency programs, and if you want to stay in Saskatchewan it’s not necessarily possible,” said Christine Orr, a first-year medical student at the University of Saskatchewan.

“I’ve always wanted to go into a specialty such as neurology or radiology, and you can’t do those specialties in rural settings.”

Orr also suggested that relieving tuition costs isn’t a major incentive for medical students.

“A lot of people are upset about having $120,000 or $160,000 debt just coming out of the four years (before residency),” Orr explained.

“Over time, (a tuition subsidy) doesn’t have a lot of incentive because eventually we will pay that loan off.”

Trainor noted that in some rural health districts there are incentives in place that ask for much less than a five-year commitment.

“That five year return-of-service (in the Saskatchewan Party plan) is absolutely huge,” Trainor said.

“The Sun Country Health Region, which is the Weyburn-Estevan-Assiniboia area, they already do have incentives for students to sign on there. There are $10,000 or $15,000 bursaries, and it’s only a two year return-of-service.”

Trainor added that a lack of housing and services in rural areas makes it difficult for graduates to commit to working there. She suggested incentives that deal with the high cost of living could help.

Orr said the province would be better off attracting doctors by advertising the number of positions available here.

“What should be advertised more, not just (in) Saskatchewan as a province, but in the other provinces, is that if you really want to get into intricate specialties you should apply in Saskatchewan, because you won’t have as much competition,” Orr explained.