Is Distributed Medical Education the Solution?

Despite the focus on increasing medical school enrollment to combat the physician shortage, the number of physicians isn’t the only problem that Canada is faced with, but also the distribution of physicians throughout Canada. Physician maldsitribution is a major concern calling into question whether the principle of “accessibility” is truly being met under the Canada Health Act. A new approach to training physicians – Distributed Medical Education (DME) – has gained tremendous support with 7 of Canada’s 17 medical school opening satellite campuses in rural, underserviced communities to date. It is the goal of these satellite campuses to increase enrollment as well as promote future physician practice in smaller communities. Although innovative and promising, medical schools should continue to re-define and evaluate their curricula to ensure the needs of Canada’s population are being met.