With the greenlight from the provincial government, York University is moving forward with plans to revolutionize Ontario’s health-care system and ensure no qualified future doctor is left behind.
The university’s new medical school will be located in Vaughan and aims to help tackle the shortage of family doctors across the province, and provide access and additional opportunities for people interested in pursuing a career in health care.
While the provincial government is expanding the entire medical education system – adding hundreds of new undergraduate and residency seats across Ontario – York’s vision is unique.
“Today’s announcement is part of our plan to connect more Ontario families to more convenient care, including primary care,” remarked Ontario Premier Doug Ford at a recent event solidifying his government’s support for York’s School of Medicine. “As the first medical school in Canada focused primarily on training family doctors, this new school will make an enormous impact in the lives of people in York Region and across Ontario.”
When the doors open in 2028, York’s School of Medicine will have the province’s support for 80 undergraduate spots and 102 postgraduate spots. Once operating at full capacity these numbers will rise to 240 undergraduate seats and 293 post-graduate seats on an annual basis. By focusing on training primary care doctors, the university’s training model will devote approximately 70 per cent of the new post-graduate training seats to primary care.
“These new seats at York University, they represent Ontario’s doctors of the future,” Ford explained. “The students that will graduate from here, will be the next generation of health-care professionals.”
The City of Vaughan and Mackenzie Health have been early supporters and valued partners throughout the planning and development of this critical education infrastructure project. Vaughan was particularly excited about the university’s vision of integrating the new medical school into the municipality’s existing health network.
“When I mention to people this medical school is coming here and it’s actually going to be focusing on primary care and family doctors, peoples’ eyes light up,” Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca told Now Toronto. “It’s going to be the best medical school in the entire country.”
The city has agreed to transfer land to the university to build the School of Medicine within the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct, located next to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital and just a few kilometers from Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital. Both facilities serve residents of York Region –- the fastest growing region in Ontario.
“There is an urgent need for additional primary care providers in our community and for our health-care system,” Mackenzie Health President and CEO Altaf Stationwala said. “Building capacity will ensure patients receive the comprehensive care they need and deserve, especially as they age and begin to experience more complex health challenges.”
According to the university’s President Rhonda Lenton, York has received a $9-million “start-up” grant as part of this year’s provincial budget to help develop and construct the medical school over the next four years. She acknowledges the rising number of people that don’t have access to a family doctor, and confirms this school will help produce more physicians that can fill that gap. Addressing this urgent need while living up to its core values and reputation as a progressive, diverse and inclusive university, York plans to launch a bridging program to ensure no qualified future doctor goes without access to a medical education.
“We hope to attract students who might not have thought a medical education was possible for them and we have a special way to support students from Grade 12 into the medical school,” Lenton told Now Toronto.
The bridging pathways program will recruit Grade 12 students directly out of high school into a two-year program where they gain a solid understanding of the health-care system alongside other students interested in working in various health-care related fields, like nursing or social work.
Then, after completing two years of undergraduate studies, they’ll be able to apply to the medical school’s three-year medical doctor program. That means high school students could be in residency after just five years.
“It’s also bringing together all the hospitals and community health-care clinics that before weren’t really engaged with learning opportunities,” Lenton said.
In 2028, York University’s School of Medicine will begin preparing the next generation of frontline primary care and family doctors who represent the diversity of the communities in which they live.
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