U of L, local leaders officially welcome new full-time medical students to Lethbridge

Although they’ve been studying since early July, the U of L formally welcomed its new full-time Southern Alberta Medical Program (SAMP) students Monday. 

Primary & Preventative Health Services minister, Justin Wright, says the model sets the future of what rural health care can look like in rural Alberta.

“This is one of the final steps to making sure we can get those additional 100 trained physicians, that are hopefully going to stay in rural Alberta,” Wright commented, following an hour-long ceremony that including representation from the school, University of Calgary, local and Indigenous leaders, and the province.

“The stats really show that those who train (in a rural setting) end up staying, they start a family. They end up practicing in rural Alberta and our end goal is to really support those that are looking to do that.”