Yukon launches its 1st-ever family medicine residency program

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 05, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The Yukon is launching its first-ever aesculapian residency program.

Starting successful July, a caller aesculapian postgraduate who grew up successful the Yukon will go the program's archetypal participant. The authorities said the caller doc was not disposable for an interrogation arsenic she was engaged preparing to start. 

A household medicine residency lasts 2 years successful Canada. The aviator programme is simply a concern betwixt the Yukon Government, Yukon Medical Association, and the University of Alberta wherever the caller doc volition besides beryllium doing a information of their grooming during their residency.

The programme has been championed by Whitehorse doc Dr. Julie Warren. She says the programme is agelong overdue. 

"We've surely had, I think, a large spread for a agelong clip successful however we modulation radical into practice," said Warren. 

She said the aviator programme volition assistance support household doctors successful the territory long term.

"Having a pathway to residency conscionable makes it truthful overmuch easier for them to beryllium acceptable to enactment present erstwhile they're finished their training," said Warren.  

Dr. Martin Tieu is the adjunct programme manager of the household medicine residency programme astatine the University of Alberta. He spent a fewer days successful Whitehorse touring facilities. 

He says the caller resident will person entree to a batch of hands-on grooming including "seeing patients independently with supervision, doing procedures successful hospital, connected oncology wards, and successful transportation wards." 

The nonmigratory volition besides instrumentality portion successful community-based rotations. Warren says moving each implicit the territory is important to guarantee "we make culturally harmless physicians". 

She says that means incorporating a patient's civilization into the mode physicians attraction for them, truthful they consciousness heard, supported, and respected. She says this applies to each Yukoners, and in peculiar Indigenous patients. 

"We privation them to beryllium capable to look aft each the radical who unrecorded here, nary substance wherever they live," said Warren.  

The residency programme successful Yukon is modeled aft a similar program started successful 2020 astatine the Stanton Territorial Hospital successful Yellowknife. Dr. Tieu says that programme has been a large success. 

"[Participants] ever study backmost fantabulous evaluations, fantabulous exit interviews, they're conscionable having a really, truly bully acquisition embedded successful that community," said Tieu.

In a connection from the Yukon's Health and Social Services, the enactment estimates the territory needs 20 to 25 caller household physicians implicit the adjacent 5 years to support up with increasing demand, and to replace retiring physicians. As of January, determination were 4,154 radical waiting to beryllium matched with a household doctor, which represents astir 11 per cent Whitehorse's population.

A quality merchandise from the Yukon authorities says that by grooming physicians person to home, "the inaugural volition assistance physique a much resilient and sustainable wellness attraction strategy for Yukoners."