Southern Alberta's Future Doctors to Train Locally Starting in 2026

In the coming years, the Southern Alberta Medical Program will begin training the next generation of doctors in the region. The program, a collaboration between the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine and the University of Lethbridge, is set to launch in July 2026 with an initial class of around 20 students.

The program's goal is to enroll learners who are likely to practice in rural areas upon graduation, which could help address the ongoing doctor shortage in communities like Lethbridge. Residents in the city have long struggled to find family physicians, with some having to "bounce around from clinic to clinic" for years. One local resident, Mel Vienneau, recently lost his family doctor when the physician moved away, leaving him and his wife to see a nurse practitioner instead.

However, the launch of the Southern Alberta Medical Program is bringing renewed hope. "It feels like a huge milestone, a huge step ahead and we're thrilled that it's coming to fruition," said Richard Buck, the associate dean of the program. By training future doctors directly in the region, the program aims to increase the likelihood that they will choose to practice there after graduation.

Lethbridge's mayor, Blaine Hyggen, has expressed the city's commitment to recruiting more physicians, stating that they've "been pretty happy with those that we've been able to recruit, both from family physicians to specialists." With the new medical program on the horizon, residents like Vienneau are optimistic that the doctor shortage in Lethbridge will soon be a thing of the past.