Canadian medical students voice their concerns

Jeff Kwong and colleagues article on the effects of rising tuition fees1 was insightful; however, I believe the authors missed an opportunity to suggest mechanisms to help ease the financial burden on students. Provincial governments must recognize that professional degrees are now more expensive than undergraduate degrees, and therefore they must make greater amounts of money available to professional students. Furthermore, provincial governments must remove archaic rules that prevent many students from receiving the money they need. For example, students from Ontario who are less than 5 years out of high school are not eligible for a full student loan. I received only $3600 in student loan money from the Ontario government because they claim that I am still “dependent” on my parents. With tuition approaching $9000, I cannot live off student loan money. This restriction clearly discriminates against medical students who enter their studies immediately after their undergraduate degree. Medical students and former medical students must come together to suggest economically sensible policies that will allow medical students to survive the financial crisis referred to as medical school.

Sarah Giles Class of 2005 Faculty of Medicine Dalhousie University Halifax, NS