It’s been talked about for quite some time, but the first tangible evidence of the Southern Alberta Medical Program has arrived.
It’s a collaboration between the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine and the University of Lethbridge, and now, prospective students can begin applying to join the first class of future doctors.
“It feels like a huge milestone, a huge step ahead and we’re thrilled that it’s coming to fruition,” said Richard Buck, associate dean of the Southern Alberta Medical Program.
The University of Lethbridge is one of two Rural Medical Education Program Training Centres in Alberta. The other is a University of Alberta partnership with Northwestern Polytechnic in Grande Prairie.
The three-year doctor of medicine (MD) program will launch with a class of about 20 undergrad students in July of 2026, allowing the future physicians to earn a University of Calgary medical degree while completing their training in southern Alberta.
The program says it will enrol learners who are identified as being likely to practice in rural areas upon graduation.
“I think it’s really good for us in Lethbridge,” said Matthew Ridding, a resident who says he spent years trying to find a family physician.
“It was just kind of bouncing around from clinic to clinic doing just walk-ins and it’s just not as good, especially trying to get prescriptions and things like that.”
Get weekly health news
Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
Unfortunately, some people are still waiting for a doctor.
“We tried for months. We left our information (at a local pharmacy) where we’ve come for years and they put us on a list, but no luck,” said Mel Vienneau.
He says he did have a family physician until recently when his doctor moved away.
“It’s really a shame that we don’t have family doctors (in Lethbridge).”
Now, he and his wife are seeing a nurse practitioner instead, which he says has been an admirable replacement.
“She has been excellent, we’re very happy with her. She’s very intelligent, very efficient. She’s very capable. So, we don’t have a family doctor, but we do have the next best thing.”
However, he’s hopeful the new program at the university will ensure more doctors in the community. This, according to Buck, is a real possibility.
“By taking folks that have community roots in the place where they’re training and then training them here, there’s a better chance that they’ll stick around and set up practice,” said Buck.
This plan, Vienneau expects, should mostly work.
“It’s a great city to live in, but young people like to move around, too, so we’ll get some of them certainly. We’ll keep some of them here,” he said.
Lethbridge’s mayor, Blaine Hyggen, says the city is committed to bringing more doctors to the city.
“We’ve been pretty happy with those that we’ve been able to recruit, both from family physicians to specialists within Lethbridge. So, we’ll keep doing our advocacy work as much as we can to make sure that those doctors are within our community.”
For Vienneau, this is where the recruitment efforts are really shining.
“Lethbridge does a good job with tourism and general promotion of the city. I think the mayor and the city council, I’m happy with them.”
Hyggen, meanwhile, says he’s glad to celebrate the small victories, as those will eventually lead to bigger changes.
“Anything that we can do to better our community step-by-step and be in that right trajectory of becoming a safer community, a community that is welcoming to all, a community that has physicians, it’s important.”
Furthermore, he says it’s great to see residents sharing this view.
“Having somebody comment on the importance of this and being thankful to council and the work that they’ve done in it is quite heartwarming,” said Hyggen.
Anyone interested in applying to the Southern Alberta Medical Program are encouraged to visit the University of Calgary’s admissions portal. The program says students from all disciplines are welcome to apply.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
