TORONTO - Medical students and residents from across the province are gathering at Queen's Park today looking to open doors for future students interested in studying and practising medicine in Ontario.

The students and residents are pleased that the provincial government has moved forward with a recruitment and retention initiative with the introduction of an interest relief program included in last October's Physicians Services agreement. The program will allow medical residents to defer payments on the principal of eligible debts during training in exchange for at least five years of service in Ontario; however, access to medical school is still an issue.

"There are many bright and energetic students in Ontario who have thought about going to medical school, but when they crunch the numbers, the debt outweighs the benefits," said Nicole Hawkins, Co-chair of the OMA's Section on Medical Students. "Regulating tuition and increasing the amount of OSAP medical students are eligible to receive will provide hundreds of students who didn't think they could afford it, a real opportunity to consider a career in medicine."

The Ontario Medical Student Association (OMSA), a section of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), and the Professional Association of Internes and Residents of Ontario (PAIRO) are calling on the provincial government to:

a) Re-regulate tuition to help curb the sky rocketing price tag of medical school so that medical school accessibility is ensured for all qualified students; and

b) Increase Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) loans so that loan allocations are equal to the average tuition at the 6 medical schools in Ontario ($16,303).

Medical education has become financially challenging for many eligible students. Since tuition was deregulated in 1997, the average cost of medical school has more than tripled from $5,000 to over $16,000 in Ontario and is the highest in the country.

In addition, the 2007 National Physicians' Survey (NPS) found that, financial debt was identified as a major contributor to the stress experienced during residency training. Specifically, the survey found that 20.6% of students report debt of more than $100,000, compared to only 6.9% in 2004. The NPS also found that increased tuition levels have resulted in a drop in the number of students from rural and small communities, as well as those from lower income families.

"Medical students and residents often return to practise in their hometowns, so it's vital that students from communities across the province have an equal opportunity to study medicine," said Andrew Vellathottham, Co-chair of the OMA's Section on Medical Students. "Ontario is made up of many diverse communities, so it's important that the medical student demographic reflects that."