This week, the Northern Alberta Medical Program officially welcomed its first cohort of 30 medical students to Northwestern Polytechnic in Grande Prairie.
The new program in Grande Prairie is part of Alberta’s investment of roughly $376 million over four years to increase the number of graduates from Alberta’s medical schools.
Under the Northern Alberta Medical Program, the University of Alberta has partnered with Northwestern Polytechnic to deliver Doctor of Medicine education at the Rural Medical Education Program Training Centre in Grande Prairie.
The University of Calgary has also partnered with the University of Lethbridge to deliver Doctor of Medicine education through a similar centre now under development in Lethbridge.
“We are honoured to lead this initiative for northern Alberta. The NAMP students are part of an important milestone, and we are grateful for the warm welcome extended by the Grande Prairie community as they begin their journey as health care professionals,” said Dr. Brenda Hemmelgarn, Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta in a statement.
The new Rural Medical Education Program Training Centres, which include the Northern Alberta Medical Program and the University of Calgary – University of Lethbridge program, will allow medical students to complete the bulk of their medical education outside Edmonton and Calgary.
Once fully operational, there will be 210 more seats provincewide with 120 at the University of Alberta, which offers a four-year program, and 90 more seats at the University of Calgary, which offers a three-year program.
The Lethbridge training centre expects to receive its first cohort of students in the fall of 2026.
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