Canadian Medical Schools Propose Changes to Address Growing Shortage of Family Physicians

Canadian medical schools are proposing changes to address the growing shortage of family physicians in the country. The Ontario Medical Association (OMA), which represents 43,000 doctors, medical students, and retired doctors, has expressed concern about the declining number of medical school students choosing family medicine. According to the OMA president, Dr. Andrew Park, 2.3 million people in Ontario are without a family doctor, and this number is expected to nearly double in the next two years.

The Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS), a national organization that matches medical school graduates with residency placements, has seen an increase in unfilled family medicine spots in Ontario, from 52 in 2021 to 108 in the first round of this year's match. The OMA is closely watching the results of the second round of matching, which takes place on Thursday, to see if the family medicine shortage can be addressed.

Why this matters: The shortage of family physicians in Canada has far-reaching implications for the healthcare system and the well-being of Canadians. Without access to primary care, patients may face delays in diagnosis and treatment, leading to poorer health outcomes and increased strain on emergency services.

Dr. Jobin Varughese of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) says that to attract students to family medicine, there needs to be systemic change, including more compensation for family doctors, establishing family health teams to provide support for new physicians, and funding for doctors to take on learners. Dr. Cathy Risdon, chair of the department of family medicine at McMaster University, explains that medical students learn by working in active family practices, but the family physicians who provide this training are not adequately compensated.

The problem is nationwide, with 2.3 million Ontarians not having a family physician. The new medical schools in Brampton (run by TMU) and York University, which will focus on family medicine, are seen as part of the solution. However, Dr. Andrew Park says that the crisis in family medicine cannot be solved just by training and recruiting more doctors, but also by improving the system to make it more appealing for family doctors to continue practicing.

The Ontario government has also announced changes to reduce the administrative burden on family doctors, such as allowing the use of attestations instead of sick notes and expanding a program that uses AI to automatically transcribe patient conversations into electronic medical records. The Ford government wants to move to an attestation-based system for employers who require a doctor's note when an employee is feeling ill, in an effort to free up family physicians to focus on patient care.

The OMA has stated that unnecessary administrative work, including filling out sick notes and government forms, takes up roughly 19 hours per week of a physician's time, slowing down the number of patients that can be seen on any given day. The OMA would like to see sick notes "eliminated completely" as physicians cannot diagnose illness after the fact.

The proposed changes by Canadian medical schools and the Ontario government aim to address the growing shortage of family physicians in the country. The systemic issues, such as inadequate compensation for family doctors and administrative burdens, need to be tackled to make family medicine a more attractive career choice for medical students. The results of the second round of residency matching will provide further insight into the effectiveness of these efforts in addressing the family physician shortage crisis.

Key Takeaways

• Canada faces a growing shortage of family physicians, with 2.3M Ontarians without a doctor.
• Medical schools propose changes to attract more students to family medicine, including better compensation.
• Unfilled family medicine residency spots in Ontario increased from 52 in 2021 to 108 in 2022.
• Ontario to reduce administrative burdens on family doctors, such as eliminating sick notes.
• Systemic changes are needed to make family medicine a more appealing career choice for students.