A parade of white coats

New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham chats with the first cohort of 30 Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick students, Thursday, before cutting the ribbon that officially opened DMNB's newly renovated building on the University of New Brunswick – Saint John campus. (Noel Chenier Photo)

“This day offers new hope for those who seek the care that only a dedicated, well trained family doctor or an expert specialist can give,“said Marilyn Trenholme Counsell. One of New Brunswick’s best-known physicians and a former lieutenant governor, senator and politician, Dr. Trenholme Counsell was guest speaker at the gathering of dignitaries, students and faculty that opened Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick.

She wished the students well, and underlining the hope they represented for the province, noted that as of March, 2,700 New Brunswickers were without
a family doctor and last month the province’s doctor shortage was reported to be the public’s top health concern.

DMNB’s 30 New Brunswick medical students were led into Ganong Hall at the University of New Brunswick – Saint John by Katie Goodine, Dalhousie Medical Students Society internal vice-president. A second-year medical student, she is the third generation in a family known in the Saint John Upper River Valley for its contribution and leadership in health care delivery.

At the head of the procession was Dr. Preston Smith, Dalhousie’s senior associate dean of medicine, who carried DMNB’s Asklepian torch.

'Exciting new chapter'

Presentations to students were made by Dianne Delva, associate dean of Undergraduate Medical Education, on behalf of Dalhousie University, and Lyne St. Pierre Ellis, executive director, Rural Health, Medical Education and Francophone Services, representing the Province of New Brunswick.

“This marks an exciting new chapter in a long relationship with New Brunswick,” said Dalhousie President, Dr. Tom Traves.  “Our medical school has an important and unique mission: to truly be the medical school of the Maritimes."

New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham told the gathering “we will work to keep as many of this program’s grads here as we can when they complete their studies.” DMNB’s opening, he said “is a major milestone for our health care system. We believe it will lead to more physicians in more communities across New Brunswick."

He added he was particularly pleased that DMNB’s students, in years three and four of their program, will be completing their clerkships in Fredericton, Moncton, and the Miramichi, as well as Saint John.

The 30 New Brunswick students started their first-year medical studies last week.

While Dalhousie has trained medical students from New Brunswick for many years, thanks to DMNB, this is the first cohort who will complete the four-year Dalhousie M.D. in their home province.

They are part of the 109-strong Class of 2014.  Seventy-nine classmates will be doing the same M.D. degree on Dalhousie’s Halifax campus.

Revitalized curriculum

The event signifies a new dimension in the long-standing relationship between the Nova Scotia-based university, a regional provider of medical education, and New Brunswick, where many Dalhousie medical alumni have traditionally gone to practice.

Dalhousie University's first on-site medical education in the province dates from the 1920s with the establishment of an internship at the former Saint John General Hospital. Since then, the relationship has steadily grown.

Thomas Marrie M.D., Dalhousie’s dean of medicine, paid tribute to his predecessor, Dr. Harold Cook, for getting “the ball rolling on DMNB for Dalhousie” and said he had been “extremely impressed by the high level of cooperation that has characterized this project.”

DMNB is a Dalhousie University venture, undertaken in partnership with the Province of New Brunswick, the University of New Brunswick and the Health Horizon Network.

The Dean cited Dalhousie’s revitalized medical curriculum with its focus on urban and rural practice and the program’s many new and innovative features as a boon for the province. In addition, because “medical schools attract top-flight physicians and researchers” he predicted, “DMNB will increase the number of excellent medical specialists who already practise in the province.”

For New Brunswick residents, he said, these developments will mean improved clinical care.

The soon-to-be-announced Chair in Occupational Health, he said, will be the first of others like it. Over time, he said they will help build “a critical mass of research scientists” that will give rise to a bio-medical research sector in the province.