It’s no secret - Canada has a shortage of doctors.

Ask yourself: how often have you had a need to visit a walk-in clinic because you don’t have a family doctor? And among those doctors who have treated you, ask yourself honestly, do you feel you got the quality healthcare you had hoped for?

Canada’s medical schools rank among some of the best in the world, unfortunately though, there are far too many few spots available, with an acceptance rate that makes getting into Harvard look easier.

Every year, hundreds, if not thousands of young aspiring future medical school applicants are told that they weren’t able to secure a place in any of the many medical schools in Canada. After years of hard academic work, resulting in excellent GPAs, coupled with related extra curricular activities to boost their chances, and good MCAT scores, dejection not only hurts these students, but also hurts our country’s ability to produce quality professionals to serve our own citizens. For those who can afford it, these aspiring students will seek entrance to a medical school either in USA or overseas, resulting in our very own brain drain.

It’s time to make our elected officials do something to ensure we retain homegrown talent by increasing the enrollment number of students accepted in Canada’s medical schools. The future of our quality healthcare depends on it.