Launched on January 31, 2023
Saskatchewan is dramatically rising academic alternatives for Saskatchewan college students and younger adults inquisitive about well being careers. A direct preliminary funding of greater than $5.5 million will assist create over 550 new post-secondary coaching seats throughout 18 well being care coaching packages.
Increasing well being coaching packages is one in every of 4 pillars within the province’s Well being Human Assets Motion Plan. This dedication will enhance coaching capability on the province’s post-secondary establishments and reserve extra coaching seats for Saskatchewan college students in extremely specialised packages in different provinces.
“This initiative will open up thrilling new well being profession choices for a lot of extra Saskatchewan college students by giving them better entry to coaching for his or her profession of selection,” Superior Training Minister Gordon Wyant stated. “The size of this unprecedented enlargement of Saskatchewan’s well being coaching capability demonstrates our authorities’s dedication to strengthening our well being care workforce. We’re grateful for the assist of our companions throughout the post-secondary training and well being sectors.”
Coaching packages that can broaden starting in fall 2023 embody Medical Laboratory Assistant, Persevering with Care Assistant, Major Care Paramedic, Licensed Sensible Nurse, Pharmacy Technician, Medical Psychologist, Bodily Therapist and Psychological Well being and Addictions Counsellor.
Publish-secondary establishments throughout the province – technical colleges, regional schools, Indigenous establishments and universities – will assist the enlargement in order that college students can research and work nearer to dwelling. This newest enlargement builds on a earlier funding in 2022-23 so as to add 150 nursing seats in Saskatchewan’s registered nursing, registered psychiatric nursing, and nurse practitioner packages.
The province can even buy extra seats for Saskatchewan college students at establishments exterior the province for specialised packages not accessible in Saskatchewan. Extra seats will probably be accessible in packages together with Respiratory Remedy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging Expertise, Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Occupational Remedy, Electro-Neurophysiology, and Cardiovascular Perfusion. For the primary time, seats can even be reserved for Saskatchewan college students in Speech Language Pathology and Environmental Public Well being.
“We’re taking a number of actions below our bold HHR Motion Plan to stabilize and steadily develop our health-care workforce,” Well being Minister Paul Merriman stated. “This contains coaching extra health-care professionals right here at dwelling, and recruiting from throughout the province, throughout Canada and overseas. This coaching seat enlargement considerably will increase academic alternatives for Saskatchewan college students throughout a number of well being disciplines and can generate elevated curiosity in coaching and dealing in well being care right here in our nice province.”
A brand new public consciousness marketing campaign will assist make Saskatchewan college students and younger adults conscious of the expanded coaching packages, monetary assist and job alternatives accessible to them. Among the many younger adults featured within the marketing campaign is Kelsey Klewchuk, a just lately graduated Major Care Paramedic from Regina.
“No two days are the identical,” Klewchuk stated. “I am all the time studying one thing new, taking one thing significant away from my day and I actually recognize that about my job. I’d say to somebody contemplating going into my area of labor – or well being care typically – that this job means that you can critically assume, work as a workforce, and general, it may be a really rewarding job once you do get the prospect to assist somebody and make a distinction on one of the crucial severe days or occasions of their life.”
Saskatchewan college students can entry quite a lot of monetary support choices to assist assist their academic journeys, together with loans, grants, bursaries and scholarships. The Graduate Retention Program additionally supplies as much as $20,000 in tax credit for individuals who keep within the province after commencement.
The Well being Human Assets Motion Plan introduced in September is predicated on 4 pillars: recruit, prepare, incentivize and retain. These priorities align with Saskatchewan’s Development Plan and can make investments over $60 million and add greater than 1,000 well being professionals to the well being system over the following few years. The $5.5 million funding throughout this fiscal 12 months will assist post-secondary establishments put together to rent college, buy tools and recruit certified college students in order that program enlargement can start this fall. Ongoing investments will probably be required in future years and will probably be decided as a part of the annual funds course of.
To study extra about Saskatchewan’s multi-faceted method to supporting well being human assets and to seek out info on well being care alternatives, go to Saskatchewan.ca/HHR.
-30-
For extra info, contact:
Briana Bolduc
Superior Training
Regina
Telephone: 306-787-0253
Electronic mail: [email protected]
Media Relations
Well being
Regina
Telephone: 306-787-4085
