Statistics may show southwestern Ontario with a staggering doctor shortage – even worse than northern Ontario – but Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry Dean Carol Herbert says help is on the way with more Western medical students choosing family medicine.
A large increase in the number of Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry graduates picking family medicine bodes well for Ontario’s family doctor shortage, says Dean Carol Herbert.
“In the last few years we’re seeing changes,” says Herbert in reference to the number of medical graduates choosing a family practice. “And this change is where we see that hope.”
Speaking to the Women’s Canadian Club of London, Herbert shared how Ontario got into “this so-called sorry-state” and some of the solutions that will hopefully alleviate the situation.
A major mistake by the province in the early 1990s was to reduce enrolment in medical schools by 10 per cent, she says. This, combined with the sentiment that family medicine was not as prestigious as specialist training – a perception somewhat less apparent today, says Herbert – led to the shortage of family physicians.
“Add to this a number of older family physicians who because of their age aren’t seeing as many patients – which is to be expected – and young doctors not prepared to work the long hours expected of them, and we have a real problem,” says Herbert.
Other issues playing into students’ decision include the high debt after leaving school, enticement of higher salaries as specialists, the lifestyle perception and the negatively perceived notion of ‘you’re going to be just a family doctor’.
But Western is doing its part to lessen the burden many local residents are having in locating a doctor. While Schulich graduates choosing family medicine has been as low as 24 per cent, recent numbers have been sharply higher. In 2009, 42 per cent of graduates have opted for family practice.
“We’re doing something right and I’m pretty proud of that,” says Herbert. “These students will soon be your doctors.”
These numbers are reflected across the province with 398 of the 1053 residency positions being filled this July being in family medicine, which Herbert says is “a very high proportion.”
Schulich has also enhanced its family medicine curriculum, with many family doctors teaching the students and having residency students speaking to current students, acting as ambassadors or “role models”.
Enrolment at Schulich has jumped 37 per cent since Herbert became dean in 1999 to 147 from 96 – with close to 50 per cent of the class being women. When Herbert graduated in 1969, less than 10 per cent of her class was female.
Herbert says the recent introduction of Health Care Connect, a new provincial program to help people find a family health care provider, will act like a “dating service” for Ontarians seeking a family doctor. Residents can call 1-800-445-1822 to register with the program, and those most in need of care will be helped first.
For the first time, information about local health services is also available online.
By visiting ontario.ca/healthcareoptions and typing in a postal code, people can find the nearest walk-in and after-hours clinics, urgent care centres, family health teams, general practitioners and emergency rooms.