CBU welcomes first cohort of medical students

CITYnews halifax / By Rachel Morgan

Cape Breton University (CBU) has officially welcomed the first cohort of 30 students to its new medical program.

The program is a joint initiative between CBU and Dalhousie University aiming to increase medical care in rural and remote communities. Each student of the program must commit to practising medicine in rural Nova Scotia for five years after graduation.

Each of inaugural program’s 30 students are from Nova Scotia.

“This is a proud day for Cape Breton and for all of Nova Scotia. The opening of a second medical school campus is transformational for healthcare in our province,” Premier Tim Houston said in a press release. “These students are answering the call to serve their communities and by training more doctors right here at home, we are investing in better access to care for families for generations to come.”

Nova Scotia has made progress on its backlog of residents waiting for a family doctor, but the number of those without primary healthcare services still remains high. As of Aug. 1, there were 87,879 people in the Need a Family Practice Registry, according to Nova Scotia Health.

That number is down from January when there were 110,456 names on the list.

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But the problem not only presents itself in family medicine. Emergency rooms across the province have had temporary closures throughout 2025 as a result of a lack of medical staff.

A former family practitioner, Dr. George Burden, told The Canadian Press in 2022 that in the mid-90s, Nova Scotia froze medical fees which left medical doctors with a 30 percent cut in pay. This prompted many doctors to switch professions or search for work in other jurisdictions.

The new program at CBU incentivizes those wanting to practice medicine to stay in their own communities which can also built repertoire with patients and result in a more successful practice.

“The CBMC is poised to become a cornerstone of healthcare transformation in Nova Scotia,” Dr. Jennifer Hall, Senior Associate Dean at Cape Breton Medical Campus, said in a press release. “The rural pathway is designed to educate physicians who are not only clinically excellent but deeply committed to supporting rural healthcare in this province. A warm welcome to Nova Scotia’s future doctors.”

The new medical campus is currently operating out of a temporary space at the former Nova Scotia Community College, which is adjacent to the new medical sciences building under construction. The facility is scheduled to open later this year and will feature simulation labs, collaborative learning spaces and integrated clinical training opportunities with local hospitals and community clinics.

The province has fully funded the cost of construction of the building and will fund operations for two years.