The Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) says the impact rising tuition fees are having on accessibility to medical education is the best argument for challenging fee deregulation.
The federation argues that deregulation in provinces such as Ontario has led to major fee increases, and its September meeting in Kingston, Ont., was dominated by discussion of fee-related issues, such as debt load and accessibility.
But tackling the issue has been difficult because tuition fees are different at each medical school and student loan limits vary by province (CMAJ 2003; 169 [5]:457-8), said the federation's outgoing vice-president of medical education. “It's really tough for us to be 100% involved logistically at each site,” said Dr. Ben Hoyt.
Student representatives from medical schools across the country confirmed that there are huge discrepancies not only in tuition fees but also in the availability of student loans and bursaries. For instance, medical students attending the University of Toronto pay an annual fee of $16 207, while their counterparts at the Université de Montréal pay only $2224.
The CFMS has decided to tackle the issue at the federal level, working with federal politicians to develop a national access strategy instead of leaving the decisions up to provincial governments.
Delegates endorsed a plan to coordinate a campaign over the coming year. Key steps include the appointment of a CFMS coordinator to deal with the access issue and plans for a national lobby day on Parliament Hill. In addition, the CFMS wants to develop a database for each province and to try and gather data to support its contention that as tuition fees rise, so do the minimum incomes of the families of medical students.
In a parallel initiative, the CFMS created a new executive committee position for minorities and under-represented groups. — Pat Rich, CMAJ