Financial Support
In the past, nearly all financial support for graduate students has come from themselves or funding that they have been able to secure from a variety of sources. Students on study leave from other universities usually have some financial support from their home university. Others have obtained small amounts of "sabbatical" funding from their own group practices or from appropriate funding agencies such as the College of Family Physicians of Canada Study Leave.
Another source of funds available to a selected student is the Dr. Georges Lachapelle Scholarship. This fund is available to a francophone Quebec student who is registered in the program.
A new development for offering graduate students support is the Martin J. Bass Scholarship/Bursary. This fund is currently established and is available for Ontario Physicians who wish to register in the Graduate Studies program in Family Medicine at Western. This is the first new monies scholarship funding that is specific to our new program.
As a regular part-time program, funding opportunities for International students is not available. As funding arrangements with Universities are undergoing reevaluation, we hope that mechanisms may be found to make Scholarships available to International Graduate Students. Many students maintain their funding support through the continuance of their regular practice.
One important advantage of the part-time, distance education format is the opportunity to continue to work while participating in the program. This results in greatly reduced cost's for the graduate student and provides opportunities to apply what they are learning on a day-to-day basis.