To be eligible, you:

• must qualify as a rural specialist
• must have Nova Scotia Health Authority privileges for three consecutive years as a rural specialist as of March 31 prior to the payment
• must have minimum total MSI billings or equivalent payment through a rural specialty contract of $125,000 in the previous fiscal year
• must participate in a district facility on-call schedule, as and if required
• must be actively practising in Nova Scotia as of April 1 of the year of payment (have billings during the period from March 1 of the payment year to the time of the retention payment)

For those physicians who become eligible for a retention payment upon three consecutive years of practice as a rural specialist during the program, payment for the first year of eligibility is prorated from the third anniversary.

Annual rural specialist retention payments are sent out by cheque with an explanatory letter to eligible physicians through MSI in late summer or early fall.