College of medicine gives incentives to doctors to get off probation

The University of Saskatchewan’s college of medicine is one step closer to meeting its accreditation requirements to get out of probation.

The university and the faculty association have signed a letter of understanding which offers incentives to physician faculty.

The individual contracts for academic and clinical work would address the issue that some doctors have teaching and research obligations but are unable to find time because of clinical workloads.

“One of the key factors underlying the accreditation was having enough faculty– and particularly in this case medical doctor faculty– to deliver the program both in the classroom and in the hospital clinic setting,” Dr. Preston Smith, dean of the college of medicine, said.

The voluntary package is being offered to 125 in-scope physicians. The individual payouts range from $350,000 to $450,000. The anticipated cost is $20 to $25 million based on 50 physicians opting for the package.

The college of medicine has been preparing for the program and has saved money over the last couple years to pay for it.

“We’ve been making a great deal of progress in developing, with the province, an academic clinical funding plan which is kind of the way most medical schools engage with medical doctors to work at the medical school. “

Since June, nine doctors have signed up for the new approach.

The school received an interim visit from the national committee in charge of medical schools in May. Their interim decision regarding the school’s probation will be made public in October.

Most efforts to address any accreditation issues have been based on the committee’s regularly scheduled visit in 2017.

The University of Saskatchewan’s school of medicine was put on “accreditation with probation” in October of 2013 by the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools/Liaison Committee on Medical Education (CACMS/LCME).

The ruling means the school is still accredited and classes will continue as normal.

The college was placed on warning of probation in July 2011 after it failed to meet all CACMS/LCME’s  standards. Probation means an accredited program is not in substantial compliance with accreditation standards.

The accreditation standards have changed from 130 requirements to 12. The college had met 120 of those.

kyeske@rawlco.com

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