In an effort to help attract family doctors to Peterborough and Kawartha, Queen’s family medicine residency program is expanding to that area.

Four Queen’s residents started their two-year placement in July, in a satellite training centre that officially opened in Peterborough on Wednesday. That number will eventually grow to 12, and local physician recruiters hope they’ll stay.

“We are building on Queen’s long-standing tradition of community-based family medicine training programs and further solidifying our presence as a regional School of Medicine serving communities from Oshawa to Ottawa,” says Richard Reznick, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. “Family medicine residents from Queen’s will spend their entire two years of training in Peterborough, providing quality healthcare to area citizens.”

“Statistics show that more than 55% of the physicians who participate in this type of program will remain in the community,” says John MacDonald who spearheads doctor recruitment in the Peterborough and surrounding County. “This would mean that in July 2012 some of our newly minted family doctors will choose to stay in Peterborough, to establish a family practice or work at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, or both.”

It’s part of a $6.6-million initiative through the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care that also includes the Queen’s program’s expansion to Belleville and Oshawa.

This initiative will help Queen’s and Peterborough Regional Health Centre provide state-of-the-art training for the next generation of local family doctors and improve health care for the citizens of Peterborough and area.