Pursuing the dream of becoming a physician is an incredible privilege. It’s no secret, however, that this privilege comes with many financial sacrifices and struggles along the way.

For fourth year medical school students in particular, the financial burden can be astronomical, as students compete for a make-or-break residency position.

At all costs

“During our fourth year, we travel all over Canada completing electives as well as interviews in the hopes of securing a residency position,” says Karim Wafa, now completing his residency in anesthesiology at Dalhousie. “Personally, in my fourth year, I completed a total of six weeks of electives out of province in Ontario and Alberta and traveled to over 10 cities across Canada for interviews.”

As securing a residency is a highly competitive process, students like Wafa are required to complete multiple applications in order to succeed. Often, the process involves thousands of dollars in travel and application costs, in addition to on-going education expenses.

“Expenses like these, on top of tuition, force many students to rack up substantial debt loads, and deter others from even applying to medicine,” says Dr. David Anderson, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. “That’s why we’re doing all that we can to level the playing field, curtail student debt and make careers in medicine more feasible,” says Anderson.

Easing the burden

Wafa was fortunate to receive financial aid from the Faculty of Medicine to help with the extra expenses related to the fourth-year of medical school.

“The bursary I received from Dalhousie has helped insurmountably in offsetting these costs for me,” says Wafa. “As medical students, not only are we beyond grateful for the financial support available at Dalhousie, we are dependent on it.”

This is why the Faculty of Medicine is committed to increasing the bursaries available to support students during their fourth year of medical school. “Residencies are essential learning and training opportunities,” says Dr. Anderson. “It’s important that we support our fourth-year students so that they can get the practical experience they need to help them be selected for their residency training program of choice.”

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