Founded in 2010, The New Brunswick Medical Education Foundation is Canada’s only private not-for-profit foundation dedicated to attracting and retaining our province’s future physicians. We have a unique model with proven success. The Foundation extends return-to-service scholarships to New Brunswick medical students, ensuring a pipeline of future physicians are ready to practice in New Brunswick.

These scholarships are lifechanging for recipients, who are faced with climbing tuition costs, living expenses and student debt. Relieving some of this financial burden allows them the freedom and peace of mind to focus more intently on their studies, extracurricular activities and volunteerism. They become more involved and invested in the communities in which they plan to live and work.

Further, the need for physicians in communities across New Brunswick is dire. There are 72,000 New Brunswickers waiting for a family doctor or nurse practitioner. In addition, 45% of our province’s family doctors are over the age of 50 and quickly approaching retirement. Staffing shortages have severely impacted access to after hours clinics, operating rooms and emergency care.

Staffing shortages in the healthcare sector are not a novel concept, and there have been many groups working to address the issue for years. These include government bodies, regional health authorities, municipalities, chambers of commerce and grassroots community initiatives. But these efforts have often been siloed, regionally specific and expensive with varied results.

What differentiates us from other recruitment initiatives is the strength of our data. We have a proven solution to physician recruitment that is unique to our province and our country.

Since 2010, we have supported over 300 students through 544 awards. There are now 44 former scholarship recipients practicing across the province. In addition, more than 250 current students and medical residents have pledged to practice here following graduation. In 2023 alone, we awarded over $1M in tuition relief to our province’s future doctors.

While this makes a significant impact, the need outweighs our ability to give. Each year we turn away qualified scholarship applicants due to a lack of funds. With the challenges our healthcare system is facing, it takes a community to raise a doctor. We cannot rely on government alone to solve this crisis. It’s going to take collaboration, dedication and – most of all – New Brunswickers helping New Brunswickers.

Your donations, sponsorships, and scholarship pledges open doors for talented students from all walks of life to make a home, a place and a practice in this province.