Medical School at UW's Downtown Kitchener Health Sciences Campus benefits Waterloo Region
Source: University of Waterloo, Release #46
WATERLOO, Ont. (March 22, 2006) -- A satellite of McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine to be located at
the University of Waterloo Health Sciences Campus in Downtown Kitchener will bring major benefits to Waterloo Region's health care
system.
The McMaster satellite on UW's new campus will start with 14 students
and grow to a complement of 84 within seven years. Physicians will be
recruited to Waterloo Region to teach them and, overall, it's
estimated that more than 450 students and residents would have
medical training in Waterloo Region by 2012. These changes will have
a noticeable effect in alleviating the shortage of physicians in this
area, university officials told regional council on Wednesday.
The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, the second-largest
medical school in Ontario, produces doctors faster than other schools
-- in three years rather than four. The first class in Kitchener will
begin in September 2007 and graduate by the end of the decade.
"It makes sense to train medical students from the local area
right
here in their home community," said McMaster University President
Peter George. "If we train them here, they will practice here.
Simple
as that."
"What a wonderful opportunity for the University of Waterloo to
give
back to the community by welcoming McMaster's Michael G. DeGroote
School of Medicine to the Health Sciences Campus," said UW President
David Johnston. "Combining our respective strengths, we contribute
to the development of health sciences for Canada, and address the doctor
shortage. Accessibility and quality of health care, so critical to
the future well being of our community, will also be improved."
Anchored by UW's new School of Pharmacy and the medical school, the
UW Downtown Kitchener Health Sciences Campus will include an
optometry clinic and the Centre for Family Medicine, a residency
program for students wishing to specialize in family medicine.
The innovative project builds on Kitchener's $30-million commitment
and gift of land to the University of Waterloo. The Health Sciences
Campus will attract a wide range of health professionals and address
the need for expertise in health technology, health informatics,
biosciences, population studies and biomedical engineering, while
filling the urgent demand for more pharmacists and doctors in Ontario.
Among the benefits for the community in Waterloo Region:
* Locating a medical school in Waterloo Region will improve
attraction and retention of doctors to an under-serviced community.
It is widely known that a high percentage of physicians tend to
practice where they are trained.
* McMaster University will offer its students a choice of campus
based on preference and geographic background.
* The development of a primary care clinic and specialist clinics
across the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) will improve
community access to an integrated spectrum of health care services.
* UW is ready to collaborate with McMaster in several integrated
teaching opportunities, including some joint learning with students
in the School of Pharmacy, scheduled to open in September 2007.
Others may include combined degrees in health informatics, public
health, imaging and so forth.
* Waterloo Region has the largest Ontario cluster of hospitals that
are not currently teaching hospitals, providing an ideal opportunity
for practicums and experienced-based learning.
* A dynamic community with innovative thinking as its hallmark, along
with a rapidly growing population, will allow for transformation of
research advances and knowledge into health benefits, economic
opportunities and improved health care.
-30-
Contact:
Martin Van Nierop, Director, UW Communications & Public Affairs,
519- 888-4881; vanierop@uwaterloo.ca
Susan Emigh, Manager, Public Relations, Faculty of Health Sciences,
McMaster University,
905-525-9140, ext. 22555; emighs@mcmaster.ca
John Morris, UW Media Relations, 519-888-4435; jmorris@uwaterloo.ca
University of Waterloo Release #46
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