Number of foreign doctors on the rise in N.L.

A new study shows the number of foreign-trained family doctors is up in the province, having increased by 15 per cent in the last five years.

The number of specialists educated abroad is especially high outside the Avalon Peninsula,ranging from two thirds to 80 per cent.

Dr. John Haggie, a British-trained surgeon in Gander, has been in Newfoundland for 20 years, but says this is the exception rather than the norm.

"My estimate would be that a significant percentage stay a shorter period rather than a longer period," said Haggie, who's noticed most foreign doctors don't staylong before leaving the province.

But he says Memorial University is trying to combat that by increasing the number of students at its medical school.

"Back in the 90s, we went through an awful period where medical school enrolment was slashed," said the doctor. "It's only very recently that [we've reached] 2,500, which is the projected intake as an ideal starting point."

Haggie says medical schools across the country are taking similar initiatives.