A possible solution to the family doctor shortage | About That

A recent survey suggests 20 per cent of Canadians do not have a family doctor, which can make getting timely lab tests and referrals to specialists nearly impossible. But what if you could get everything you need under one roof? Andrew Chang talks with Dr. Danielle Martin about health teams and why they could be an answer to our doctor shortage.
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[@alicatterson]

I’m a newly graduated doctor, born and raised in Ontario. I studied in Ireland, graduated with honours and passed my Canadian boards on my first go. I applied for family medicine residencies this year and was turned away…didn’t even get interviewed. I had no choice but to work in the UK, which has its own doctor shortage. The longer that I’m away from home, the less likely I’ll return. If universities/politicians continue to put up barriers for Canadian IMGs, then they’ll loose out on very good doctors to other countries

[@lynns3868]

I don't understand how the government doesn't see that preventative care is way cheaper in the long run. I am very lucky to be one of those patients in a family health team.

[@Truecrimejunkie12]

My family doctor definitely does not know me. She is too rushed.

[@chrisbabb3973]

Tbh this is old thinking. I lived in Denmark and any doctor I walked into had instant access to any medical history I had in the country. Anything. And the data format was the same everywhere in the country. THAT should be the question. How to format the medical data so any doctor can see anyone anytime and completely understand their history and what they need. Also, whenever I had a prescription, it was attached to my SIN number (Danish equivalent called CPR). I could walk into any pharmacy in the country and they could get that prescription from my SIN number. They could also see any prescription I’ve ever had in the country. So could ANY doctor I spoke to. Instantly.

[@user-broccoli-farts]

This is laughable. I went for years to a “community”/team based clinic and I never received this level of service. In fact I was treated more like a piece of office furniture than a patient.

[@prabsnaidoo]

as a solo practictioner, the fees go to paying rent, medical supplies and equipment, staff before you are paid. Nurse practioner costs have escalated with the shortage and costs of medical supplies but the payment from government has continuously decreased. The government does not want to run clinics and pay salaries because it costs alot to run clinics. Most family physicians spend 60% of their time on adminstrative work which is exhausting, this leaves less time for patient care and then there is the time to run the business side of the practice. Reviewing charts and results from 1500 to 3000 patients everytime they have a test or go to hospital or another facility takes time and it is unpaid under the fee for service model. The government hasnt allowed physicians to join the FHO system in Ontario because it costs them more so there is no pay for the admin work, only $35 per patient you see in the office. Alot of services and procedures are no longer covered.

[@AmericanFUBAR33]

I am a Canadian and left 17 years ago to study medicine abroad and practiced in the US for 12 years. I recently returned to Montreal to open a private medical clinic. There are thousands of people like me that Canada is NOT using. If they mount a campaign to call on these expats to return and make it easy and incentivize them, it will be a huge blow to the current shortage. Plus the US has trained and tested these physicians so Canada did not spent almost anything, a win-win situation.

[@somewhereupthere785]

I took a Pharmacy Tech class and I am AMAZED how much Pharmacists know! They are very underutilized and at the same time so overworked.

[@adilechavush6284]

The federal government must make it mandatory for provinces to provide at least 2 general check up appointments for people without family doctor.

[@esosaomoregbee5916]

Canada won't have this problem if they made it easy for competent foreign Mds to practice when they arrive but instead you see them in the Uber services and other jobs when they could be saving lives 🤦

[@luludesjardins]

Some of us have no choice. In New Brunswick there are more than 70,000 people on a waiting list for a family doctor. My husband’s doctor recently left the province. In rural NB, we are left at the mercy of the existing health care. If I wake up one morning with acute pain , or a bladder infection, I have no choice but to go to emergency. There are no daily drop in clinics.

[@john_doe_not_found]

Canada graduates almost 3000 doctors per year. About 15% (450 doctors) of Canadian graduates move to the US every year because the pay is better.

[@syebethel]

Wow..... with all the immigration in every province, there's NO physician coming to Canada? Oh yeah.... I remember now..... they're forced to drive Uber to survive. 😔

[@Oilers1972]

Medical schooling is very expensive and accessible to a small percentage of the population. It should be made easily accessible to everyone. There are probably many Canadians that are smart enough and have the ability to be great doctors but can’t afford, or would qualify to go to medical school because of life and financial circumstances. The government needs to find a way to change this. If you come from a low income demographic you could be a great doctor but never be able to follow that path because of the way things are set up right now.

[@lilawagner3726]

Moved to Saskatoon in 1977 & immediately joined the Saskatoon Community Clinic. The clinic was part of the start of Medicare in Canada. My first doctor was a Dr. Fisher who left the clinic to teach family medicine at the Royal University Hospital here in Saskatoon.

[@Royan1900]

One part of the problem/solution is much better utilization of other healthcare professionals. For example our pharmacists are greatly underutilized: they can and should be prescribing for minor ailments and optimizing and renewing prescriptions independently. This in turn would reduce the number of unnecessary "emergency" visits to our overcrowded EDs and urgent care centres. And free up physicians to manage more complicated diagnosises.

[@donairsauce2496]

my family doc was forced to retire during covid as he was already in his late 60s but he was my doctor from when i was born in 2000 , was a great guy hope he's healthy and happy also hope i someday get another GP like Dr. Marsh

[@mikehenderson560]

I spent 1 1/2 years at an extended care facility. I got a GP assigned to me, who is still my GP. I also have a cardiologist and a Urologist. Personally, I blame the Provincial Colleges for the Dr. shortage. I was extremely lucky.

[@ColleenJoudrey]

Something that has come to mind is the wonder of possibly some people choose to not go into medicine because of the sky-high tuition costs and that's partially why there are fewer doctors available. My GP took his well deserved retirement last November at 70y/o after spending nearly 5 years trying to find someone to take over his practice with no avail. Unfortunately where I live, we also have a couple hundred people fighting for 25 same-day clinic appointments every single day.

[@zochbuppet448]

Most people in Toronto go to the large walk in Clinics that have popped up in the last 20 years when they dont have a doctor.