Government needs to encourage more Islanders to study dentistry, says Green Party

A dearth of Island students attending dental school at Halifax's Dalhousie University is a concern for a profession having trouble keeping up with demand, says a P.E.I. Green Party MLA.

During question period in the legislature on Friday, Borden-Kinkora MLA Matt MacFarlane said it's important to encourage young people to take up the profession because Island dentists are stretched thin and don't have the capacity to take on new patients.

"There is a shortage unfortunately of front-line health-care practitioners across the board, dentists are no exception right now," MacFarlane said.

"One way that at least over time this shortfall in human resources can be balanced is with new graduate dentists."

MacFarlane expressed concern that no Island students secured a seat this year in the Dalhousie dental program and asked Health Minister Mark McLane whether a deal with the university to secure seats for P.E.I. students had ended. Dalhousie is the only university in the Maritimes that offers that type of training.

"I think with any health care, we've seen that they are not reaching capacity and we need more seats in every single discipline across Canada and the education system needs to respond," McLane replied.

During question period, MacFarlane suggested the province's deal with Dalhousie is to secure four seats a year for Island dental students. But McLane said afterward that's not entirely accurate.

The province funds four seats in the program in total, McLane said, and can send one student a year to the university. That means there can be a total of four students through the program who may be at a different stage in their education, he said.

"In the last year, we only had two applications to Dal. One Prince Edward Island student was offered an interview and actually declined," he said. "I think we need Island students to apply to the dental program to increase our capacity for dentistry on P.E.I."

McLane said the province's agreement with Dalhousie hasn't changed.

"I think going forward some of the discussion now is about adding to the program," he said.

"They say dental school is as hard or even harder than medical school to be accepted, so it's a really competitive environment."

CBC contacted Dalhousie to confirm funding arrangements but did not receive a response.

With the rollout of the federal dental program, things might be a bit busier for Island dentists, McLane said. 

"I would imagine that there is more volume. Again with the access to the new federal dental program, that would make sense that more people are accessing dental care because of cost reductions," he said.

About 1,100 Islanders have accessed the program, McLane said. The province also has a program that enables low-income families to receive subsidized basic dental treatment.

MacFarlane said he didn't know why no Island students were accepted into the Dalhousie program in the past year.