The Alberta government announced a new compensation deal for physicians in training on Wednesday that it says will help retain and recruit doctors in the province.

In a news release, the government said the four-year agreement will provide “competitive and fair-market compensation for physicians in training.”

The negotiated deal between the government, Alberta Health Services, the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary and the Professional Association of Resident Physicians of Alberta includes wage increases of three per cent in each of the first two years, and two per cent in each of the last two years.

The previous agreement expired on June 30.

“Alberta’s government is grateful for all the hard work resident physicians put in as they complete their training,” said Health Minister Adriana LaGrange.

“We are pleased to see that a new agreement has been reached and look forward to more physicians calling Alberta home.”

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Resident physicians have graduated medical school but are still finishing their post-graduate training in a residency program to get their licence to practise.

Athana Mentzelopoulos, the president and CEO of AHS, said the deal “will help us recruit medical students and encourage them to practise in this province.”

News of the deal comes less than a week after the province announced details about its Rural and Remote Family Medicine Resident Physician Bursary Pilot Program, another step aimed at making Alberta a more attractive destination for medical students and resident physicians.

“The pilot program will provide up to $8 million annually for the next two years to medical students in their final year of an undergraduate medical program when they are matched with a family medicine residency program at the University of Alberta or University of Calgary, or to residents currently completing a family medicine residency at either university regardless of their year of study,” the provincial government said.

“In return, bursary recipients will commit to delivering comprehensive patient care in eligible communities for three years after completing their residency.”

The province’s promised Physician Comprehensive Care Model compensation deal for Alberta doctors is still not completed. Late last month, LaGrange said there is more work to be done before a new compensation contract for the province’s doctors is finalized.

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