I recently had the pleasure of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the University of Manitoba’s department of family medicine. I was among more than 340 primary health care providers, educators and guests who gathered at the Manitoba Museum on May 26 to mark this great achievement.
Since the department of family medicine was founded in 1973, it has expanded and grown family medicine streams and distributed medical education sites across the province. It also has a vital presence in each of Manitoba’s regional health authorities and partnerships in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
This year, we increased the number of family medicine residency spaces by 10, and all 62 positions were filled through the CaRMS match this year. We were one of only two provinces to fill all our family med spaces this year. This is a testament to the high quality of postgraduate medical education at UM, and the reputation of our residency programs right across the country.
We are entering a transformational growth period in the Max Rady College of Medicine and we are working with the provincial government preparing for further expansions at the undergrad and postgrad levels and in the international medical graduate program to address Manitoba’s heath care needs.
This fall, we will admit an additional 15 students to our MD program, bringing us to 125 MD students and our largest medical school class ever!
I congratulate members of the department of family medicine as well as all proud alumni on your 50th anniversary! Our commitment to training first-rate family physicians will, no doubt, continue for another 50 years.
And speaking of anniversaries, we are marking another exciting milestone this year in the Max Rady College of Medicine. It is the 140th anniversary of the University of Manitoba medical school and we hope all alumni, present and past faculty members and friends will join us in celebration at our gala November 18, 2023 at RBC Convention Centre.
Dr. Peter Nickerson
Vice-provost (health sciences)
Dean, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Dean, Max Rady College of Medicine