Background
Distributed Medical education has become a standard part of medical teaching programs right across Canada. DME takes on various “looks” and has been spurred on by at least three factors, which will be described below.
First, over the last ten or fifteen years, it became obvious that one way to recruit physicians to practice in small or rural communities was to offer medical education in these communities. In fact, it has been shown that the earlier rural training situations are introduced, the more likely a student might choose a rural career. This led various provincial Ministries of Health to start funding rural training in an effort to increase recruitment in small towns.
Second, the ever increasing class sizes became an issue. Schools found themselves with large student bodies needing training, while the Health Ministries were offering increased funding for rural or DME opportunities.
Finally, there exists a pedagogic belief that teaching in small communities, sometimes delivered one-on-one, may complement the traditional approaches most physicians have experienced. Thus, DME has now become an integral part of almost all 17 Medical Schools across Canada, with the latest, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), being dedicated to offering its whole curriculum in a Distributed model.