Hi Everyone,
I love living in Canada, and I am reminded that the changing seasons on the East Coast are spectacular. As we transition to winter 2024, I can’t help but draw a parallel to the transitions we are experiencing as we prepare to welcome students to PEI’s medical campus in fall 2025.
Many may not know that when the medical school was announced for PEI in 2021, the UPEI president announced it as the first co-degree in Canada. Our premier spoke to the thoughtful approach and care taken to welcome Memorial University of Newfoundland as a robust and well-matched partner. The media reported that Memorial’s 50 years of experience in generalist training and rural medicine and its Indigenous Health Initiative make it a “good fit” for the partnership. And it is a great fit!
A journey is only sometimes a straight line. The vision began as a unique to Canada joint degree program. Seeking to accredit the 1st of its kind co-degree, joint program in Canada had never been done and would take time to design and plan. All involved wanted to ensure the initial intake of PEI students happened as soon as possible. To make that happen, in conjunction with leadership at Memorial, it was jointly decided there would be a pivot to launch medical education in PEI via a Memorial Faculty of Medicine regional campus. Exploration of a co-degree model for the future was also to continue but on a more realistic timeline. 2022-2023, leadership changes led to a revitalization of the team (Presidents, Deans, etc), driving the work forward. Individuals from institutions had to quickly become familiar with the initial vision, decisions, and pivots along the journey. The current leadership of both institutions continue to work collaboratively, unrelentingly, to turn early dreams into reality, and although much remains to be done, significant progress is being made:
The St John’s and PEI-based faculty and staff, collaborating on making the regional campus a reality, recently held a retreat in PEI. The time was well spent working to ensure that the inaugural class of Memorial’s regional campus in Prince Edward Island will be a resounding success. Great care is being taken to ensure PEI-based Memorial students have an experience comparable to the excellent medical education Newfoundland-based Memorial students have come to expect.
In the coming days, Memorial’s regional campus at UPEI will call on PEI physicians interested in joining their team for specific teaching opportunities in the 2025-2026 year (pre-clerkship). Whether experienced or new to medical education, the Memorial team will help guide faculty development and provide support to successfully onboard all interested PEI physicians. Health PEI will provide support.
Memorial Faculty of Medicine is moving and shaking medical education growth in Canada; while they are building a regional campus program to be housed in state-of-the-art PEI facilities, they are also expanding their medical education seats in St John’s. Teams are elbows deep, working lockstep in planning Memorial’s regional campus at UPEI. The PEI team and UPEI look forward to a long relationship with Memorial’s well-established Faculty of Medicine.
I know I have said it before, and I will keep saying it: the government of PEI and the University of Prince Edward Island, in strategic partnership with Memorial University, are building for the future and ultimately improving the healthcare of all Prince Edward Islanders. UPEI could not have picked a better partner than Memorial to get this done!
Feel free to reach out for more information or to chat anytime.