Medical students in Quebec say they are facing major disruptions to their training as contract negotiations between the province and its doctors continue to break down — and they warn patients could soon feel the impact too.
The Quebec Federation of Medical Specialists (FMSQ) recently instructed its members to stop teaching students, citing stalled talks with the government over Bill 106 — a proposed legislation tabled last spring that would link physicians’ pay to performance indicators as a way to get doctors to work more hours.
A few weeks later, the Federation of General Practitioners followed suit, further reducing opportunities for clinical learning across the province.
“We feel like we’re back to square one,” said Nicolas Dostie, a representative of the University of Montreal Medical Students’ Association. “Students that are supposed to be doing their clinical rotations in hospitals are at home. So they’re not learning how to treat a heart attack. They’re not learning how to reassure parents.”
Medical students have now been told that their expected graduation date, July 2026, may no longer be possible if the situation isn’t resolved soon.
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Ryan Kara, executive president of the Medical Students’ Society of McGill, said students like him should be in hospitals, not at home studying alone.
“The more days we’re not at school, the (greater) the consequences,” he said. “If we can’t start residency on time, that means patients are going to have to wait even more than they’re already waiting at the moment.”
In a letter sent to Premier François Legault over the weekend and obtained by Global News, the president of the FMSQ called Bill 106 “punitive and incoherent,” blaming Health Minister Christian Dubé for “thwarting” negotiations due to his “desire to punish doctors for the problems in the health network.”
The FMSQ says it has lost confidence in Dubé, and a three-week mediation effort recently came to an abrupt end.
Legault responded in a letter of his own, defending Bill 106 as “essential” to improving the health-care system and inviting the doctors’ federations back to the negotiating table.
The province has not ruled out the possibility of back-to-work legislation, saying all options remain on the table.
“We want the government to show flexibility,” Dostie said. “To open the door to arbitration and to help the 5,000 medical students in Quebec get back to the bedsides and the classrooms.”
A spokesperson for Dubé’s office, Catherine Barbeau, said the health ministry is very concerned about the delays in graduation. “This will directly affect students and, ultimately, the patients who will need them.”
