Classes start Monday for first 30 students in the Northern Alberta Medical Program

Aug 20, 2025 | 6:00 AM

Class will start Monday for the first 30 students enrolled in the Northern Alberta Medical Program.

They will be part of a group of 192 students that will start medical school with an orientation week at the University of Alberta in Edmonton before coming to Grande Prairie to continue their training starting Sept. 2.

Grande Prairie family doctor and program assistant dean Dr. Richard Martin says there were close to 2,000 applications for those 192 spots.

“You know, it’s always difficult to go through a large pool of people who are excellent. The average applicant to medical school brings a tremendous amount of skill and knowledge and experience.”

“It’s always a challenge to try to chose between an entire pool of people who are fantastic.”

Dr. Martin says the University of Alberta has a rural admission pathway where students get credit for having more chances to be part of a community in a smaller place where they would not have access to the extracurricular opportunities as someone from Alberta’s two biggest cities.

He adds it is up to the students if they want to study in Grande Prairie or in Edmonton.

Dr. Martin says of that group of 30; 24 are from what he calls rural communities.

“A little more than half are from the northern area of Alberta compared to the southern area of Alberta

“We have three students who were accepted from Grande Prairie itself and then there are a few students that were accepted from this general region, the County of Grande Prairie (and the) MD of Greenview.”

Dr. Martin says the University of Alberta usually has 30-35 rural students per class.

by Curtis Galbraith