SAINT JOHN, N.B.- The Associate Dean with Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick believes the province needs to make itself and Saint John more attractive if it wants to recruit and retain doctors.

This in light of recent news that four of the city’s family doctors will be retiring by early next year.

Dr. John Steeves says the Dalhousie school of medicine’s mentorship program is helping connect med students to the Saint John community. “They can be sort of hooked into the pipeline of future employment, if you would, as they go through the program”, says Steeves. “The students are also interested in making sure that their training is going to position them for opportunities in the job market. The students in our program are all New Brunswickers and by-and-large they want to come back to New Brunswick”.

The retiring doctors have had troubles finding other medical professionals to take on their practices.

There is currently almost 8-thousand people on the wait list for a family doctor in Saint John.