New SFU medical school could provide primary care to 30,000 patients
Details of behind-the-scenes efforts to establish British Columbia's second medical school are increasingly becoming public, including the possibility of family doctor access for thousands of Surrey residents at the Simon Fraser University campus.
The information emerged through an exclusive one-on-one interview between CTV News and acting dean Dr. David Price at the Surrey Central complex. Price revealed that 48 spaces will be available for first-year medical students to begin their training in September 2026.
"We are very much on track, we've pulled out all the stops," he said, explaining that the university senate and board must formally approve the school, which is expected to happen by June. Price and his team expect to submit a detailed application to the Committee for the Accreditation of Medical Schools by August.
Students will be trained in longitudinal, primary care, as family doctors who are considered generalist physicians; the schooling and residency takes approximately eight years.
The analogy of building the plane while flying it applies in this case: for the first few years, students will take classes at the existing SFU Surrey campus while plans are finalized and construction begins on the permanent medical school – which could have students treating patients hands-on much sooner than the traditional training model.
"What I would really like to accomplish is to put a family medicine teaching clinic, which is inter-professional, team-based, right in the medical school," said Price. "(That would mean) 25,000 to 30,000 patients cared for by an inter-professional team, full-time faculty ... supervising the student physicians."
Mayor enthusiastic about plans
Surrey's mayor is enthusiastic about the prospect of the teaching clinic and revealed there have been numerous meetings about the school's makeup and its impact on the local community.
"We're absolutely thrilled about that," said Brenda Locke. "Surrey has some of the lowest doctor-to-patient ratios in the province and to have such a clinic here in Surrey is important."
The SFU campus is just south of Surrey City Hall and Locke said there's shared land between the two institutions where the school and clinic could be built.
"We're hopeful that it all stays in this area," she said. "The City of Surrey is going to do everything we can to support SFU, to support the school, as we always have."
Price believes the clinic, which is modelled on a similar facility in Ontario, can be open with student doctors and supervisors working to serve Surrey patients in as little as five years.
Health minister non-committal
CTV News asked the health minister if he supported the novel concept of a teaching clinic and he was non-committal.
"There's an outstanding team at SFU that's leading this project," said Adrian Dix. "We'll be briefing, like within the next two weeks and hearing detailed progress to date and we'll be bringing that forward."
The school was an election promise made by then-premier John Horgan in 2020, with an anticipated opening date of September 2023. Current Premier David Eby had to walk that back and commit to a more realistic timeline of 2026.
Both Price and Dix emphasized that expanding family medicine and establishing grassroots education and treatment options in Fraser Health are a big priority of the new school, saying they will be engaging with local doctors in the fall to discuss their role.
"We’ll be looking to local family physicians, physicians in specialties to train our students," said Price, who has practiced family medicine himself for more than three decades.
"We’re going to recruit students within our communities, train them in our communities, and really get them excited about being primary care physicians in our communities."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING NEWS 'A horrible way to start the summer': 3 killed in serious boat crash on lake north of Kingston, Ont.
Three people were killed and five others were injured Saturday night following a boat crash on the Buck Bay area of Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont., the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said.
Walmart, Costco refusing to sign grocery code of conduct 'untenable': industry minister
Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says it's 'untenable' for 'smaller players' like Walmart and Costco to delay signing on to the government- and industry-led grocery code of conduct, now that industry giant Loblaw has agreed to do so.
Residents evacuated after threats made to residence in Fall River, N.S.
Nova Scotia RCMP are warning the public to avoid the area around Canterbury Lane in Fall River after a threat was made at a residence.
French security forces work to regain control of airport highway in violence-scorched New Caledonia
Using armoured vehicles and backhoes to shove aside charred barricades, French security forces worked Sunday to retake control of the highway to the international airport in violence-scorched New Caledonia, shuttered because of deadly unrest wracking the French Pacific archipelago where indigenous people have long sought independence from France.
The secret Italian lakes that most tourists don't know about
Italy has dozens of secret smaller lakes that boast superb scenery, unknown to mass tourism, where locals get together on day trips and enjoy picnics.
Diddy admits beating ex-girlfriend Cassie, says he's sorry, calls his actions 'inexcusable'
Sean 'Diddy' Combs admitted Sunday that he beat his ex-girlfriend in a hotel hallway in 2016 after CNN released video of the attack, saying in a video apology he was 'truly sorry' and his actions were 'inexcusable.'
Ottawa driver who appeared to be racing another vehicle on Highway 416 facing charges
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says an Ottawa driver is facing charges after being caught going 187 km/h on Highway 416.
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
Canadian immigration asks medical worker fleeing Gaza if he treated Hamas fighters
Lawyers are questioning Canada’s approach to screening visa applications for people in Gaza with extended family in Canada after one applicant, a medical worker, was asked whether he had treated members of Hamas.