July 9, 2004

Our View
CHA's idea for bursary a step in right direction
by Darrell Cole, The Amherst Daily News

Small bursary program could lead to more health care professional practicing here in Cumberland County.

The CUmberland Health Authority announced on Wednesday it would hand out a $4,000 bursary to four students each year with the goal of keeping local students who are pursuing studies in the health care professions in this area when their schooling is finished.

What sets this bursary apart from the many handed out each year to graduating high school and university students pursuing post-secondary studies, are the strings that are attached. This isn't a handout. It is a legal agreement.

Students who apply for an receive this bursary of $4,000 each year of their studies will be guaranteed a job with the Cumberland Health Authority upon graduation, as well as during their summer breaks. If they decided to pursue their careers elsewhere, they will have to pay back the cash.

It brings to mind the premise of that 1980's television show Northern Exposure. The doctor from New York who ended up in Cicely, Alaska took a scholarship with similar strings attached. He couldn't afford to pay back the money and found himself on a Greyhound Bus to Alaska to set up a family medical practice.

Although Dr. Joel Flieschman was a fish out of water in Alaska, the Cumberland Health Authority is counting on newly minted health professionals returning to their home town to fit like a glove with the existing staff.

It is a great idea and doesn't come a minute too soon. With the number of openings in various fields within the health care field at the local hospitals in Cumberland County, and the seeming inability to attract some professionals to the area, leaves the authority no choice but to think outside the box when it come to recruiting new health care providers.

Although many young people vow once they leave high school to seek the bright lights and excitement of the big city, never to return to sleepy Cumberland County, money talks.

A student faced with astronomical student loans to pursue what can sometimes be up to seven years of post-secondary education, depending on which health care field they are entering, would be a bit daft to turn down financial assistance strings and all.

Residents can only hope the students who accept these bursaries and do their promised stint decide to stick around for the long haul.