In a press release on March 15, the provincial government announced that UTSC will soon receive its own medical school. The school will be named the Scarborough Academy of Medical and Integrated Health.
This announcement comes after many activists, doctors, and stakeholder groups have noted the strain the pandemic has placed on the healthcare system in Ontario. Scarborough is a region known for a shortage of family physicians and specialists.
U of T is expected to release a full statement on the announcement in a press conference expected to occur on Monday.
The new UTSC medical school is planned to have the capacity to educate 30 undergraduate students and 45 postgraduate students. It will also receive funding for enrolment in its life sciences and physical therapy programs. This project is a partnership between UTSG’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, as well as with hospitals and health networks in the region.
The province announced an additional 160 undergraduate seats and 295 postgraduate seats to several medical schools across the province over the course of the next five years. This is, according to the statement, the largest expansion of medical education in the last 10 years.
The announcement noted that the new Ryerson School of Medicine in Brampton will have seats created once it becomes operational. This is expected to occur in 2025.
Editor’s note (March 25): An earlier version of this article incorrectly implied that UTM did not currently have a medical school.
