According to the Canadian Institute of Health Information, Canada has 91,375 physicians as of 2019. Since 1997, Canada has seen an increase in its physician population every year. However, the national agency Statistics Canada reported that over 14.5% of Canadians were still without family doctors.
The physician shortage in Canada is not as simple as the word “shortage” might seem to indicate. Canada’s production of fully trained doctors increases every year compared to its population growth. The problem lies in allocating human resources and looking at the bigger picture than just the raw numbers of doctors available.
A Multifactorial Problem
Multiple factors are contributing to this disparity. The Covid-19 pandemic also bared the veil off of Canada’s not so adequate medical system. While a need for more human resources was identified for all medical professionals overall, we also saw the mismanaged reallocation of physicians all across the board. This problem, however, is not just limited to the pandemic crisis.
The Rural Versus Urban Crisis
The availability of Family Physicians in rural areas of Canada is much more concerning than in urban areas. In a 2016 report, The College of Family Physicians of Canada pointed out gaps in the recruitment and retention of family physicians in rural areas of Canada overall.
A 2017 study published in the Global Journal of Health Science reviewing physician shortage in Canada pointed out that 74% of physicians in rural areas covered emergency departments compared to 15% in urban areas. This inconsistency across Canada gives us a glimpse into poor mismanagement of resources at a national level.
Policies Conundrums
Many governmental policies are also at play when it comes to the specific shortage of Family Physicians in the country. These policies were implemented in the 90s and are still impacting the Canadian health force. For instance, the requirement of a two-year residency in family medicine for practice had a major impact on medical students’ decision to become family physicians.
Similarly, the focus on specialties over choosing family medicine also skewed the ratio of family physicians in Canada. Also, due to these policies, Canada has seen a major brain drain, with many doctors leaving to work in the US for better packages and prospects.
The Foreign-trained
Another government policy that is setting the country back is its restrictions on appointing foreign-trained doctors. A 2020 report by Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) disclosed that just in British Columbia alone, 3,397 residency seats were given to North American medical students, leaving just 325 for foreign-trained doctors.
Canada has a huge pool of talented doctors that don’t have much hope for being selected in any prestigious residency program due to Canada’s extreme hesitancy regarding foreign-trained doctors that can provide massive relief to the system if given a chance.
With the overall physician shortage, mismanagement of resources, lack of planning, and uncertain circumstances due to the pandemic, the public is left unattended. Everyone is trying to reach out, trying their luck on the long waiting lists for their family physician, or just giving up on the system.
Walk-in clinics offer a fee-for-service solution to patients with no options left. This model has helped Canada overcome many of the shortcomings of its health system, but this trend is slowly becoming a permanent alternative to its structured healthcare.
The Need and Rise of Walk-in Clinics
Walk-in clinics provide the care needed for emergencies and urgent support, but mostly all physicians stress the importance of having a regular family physician.
Canada’s future healthcare must focus on integrating all infrastructure present to form an inclusive and streamlined medical care for all. The government must look at its policies that have been creating hurdles for all stakeholders in medicine. A more realistic and flexible approach towards foreign-trained doctors is now necessary for Canada, and a more regulated approach must be sought to make better use of our walk-in clinics model.
References
carms. “2020 CaRMS Forum” (2020) PowerPoint, https://www.carms.ca/pdfs/2020-carms-forum.pdf
Brule, Shawn, and Haileigh McDonald. “Health Fact Sheets Primary Health Care Providers, 2019.” Primary Health Care Providers, 2019, Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, 22 Oct. 2020, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2020001/article/00004-eng.htm.
“Global Journal of Health Science” (2021) Canadian Centre of Science And Education, Vol 13, No.11, https://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/gjhs
“Physicians in Canada.” (2021) CIHI, https://www.cihi.ca/en/physicians-in-canada.
Review of Family Medicine Within Rural and Remote Canada: Education, Practice, and Policy (2016) CFPC, https://www.cfpc.ca/CFPC/media/Resources/Rural-Practice/ARFM_BackgroundPaper_Eng_WEB_FINAL.pdf
