Philippine Asian News Today Vol 19 No 15 | Page 11

August 1 - 20, 2017
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
11
Medical Schools Can Solve Canada’s
Rural Doctor Shortage
by Sandra Banner
Timely medical care is all
too rare for many Canadians.
Fewer than half can
get a same-day or next-day
appointment with their family
doctor, according to a recent
report from the Canadian
Institute of Health Information.
Fifty-six percent of Canadians
have to wait more than a
month to see a specialist.
These statistics are
a bracing reminder of the
nation’s growing shortage of
physicians, especially primary
care doctors. More than 4.5
million Canadians lack a
regular doctor. That’s nearly
15 percent of the population.
Canada’s leaders must
act to reverse these shortages.
Doing so will require an
aggressive effort by medical
schools and governments to
encourage more young people
to consider careers in family
medicine -- careers that have
an outsized impact on the
health of Canadians.
Canada is short primary
care doctors in part because
graduates of Canadian medical
schools are growing more
reluctant to pursue careers in
family medicine. Just one-third
of Canadian medical graduates
go into primary care.
These shortages take
a toll on Canadians’ health.
Patients with no regular doctor
are less likely to get annual
exams or other preventive care.
And the evidence shows that
there’s a strong correlation
between a population with
access to effective primary
care providers and positive
health outcomes.
The
primary
care
shortage has hit Canada’s rural
communities hardest. One
hospital in Preeceville in rural
Saskatchewan, which serves
60,000 locals, recently began
suspending emergency room
services on a regular basis.
On
Prince
Edward
Island, 4,000 patients are
without a primary care doctor.
According to the Nova
Scotia Health Authority, over
25,000 residents are currently
waiting to see a family doctor
throughout the province -
- up from only 6,000 last fall.
More than 200,000 residents
of British Columbia have no
family doctor.
Last
summer,
the
Canadian
Association
of
Emergency Physicians, the
Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons, and the College
of Family Physicians of Canada
recommended a dramatic
increase in the number of
emergency room residency
slots. They say that the current
shortfall of nearly 500 ER
doctors could triple by 2025.
Since 2004, medical
schools have been opening
campuses all across the
country. These are meant
to encourage students from
rural communities to enroll in
medical school -- and hopefully
return to practice in smaller
communities.
Despite
all
these
changes, millions of Canadians
still cannot find a family doctor.
Perhaps it’s time to look outside
our borders.
Institutions
outside
Canada can make a difference,
just as they
have in the
United States.
One-quarter of
our southern
neighbor’s
doctors
are
graduates of
international
m e d i c a l
schools.
And among
d o c t o r s
practicing in
the
United
States,
half
of
those
educated at med schools in
the Caribbean are working in
primary care.
St. George’s University, a
school on the Caribbean island
of Grenada for which I serve as
a consultant, has trained more
than 1,200 Canadian doctors.
Two-thirds of those grads are
in primary care -- twice the
share of graduates of Canadian
medical schools.
Over 600 of our current
students hail from Canada.
Many are eager to train
and practice in their own
communities. That’s why St.
George’s has partnered with
the University of Saskatchewan
Hospital and the Vancouver
General Hospital -- to arrange
BCTF welcomes restoration of
adult education funding
“The new BC NDP government’s
move to reverse the BC Liberals’ cuts
to adult education will make a real
difference in the lives of many British
Columbians looking to upgrade their
skills and get better-paying jobs,” said
BCTF President Glen Hansman.
“The cuts brought in by the BC
Liberal government in 2015 had a
huge impact on many adult learners
and teachers,” said Hansman. “In
Lower Mainland communities like
Vancouver, Surrey, and Coquitlam, the
cuts actually put the adult education
system into crisis. The cuts were
especially hurtful to people looking
to complete or upgrade courses they
needed for job training programs, those
learning English, new immigrants, and
Indigenous learners.”
“By restoring funding for
tuition-free adult education, the new
government is putting pathways
back in place to help a lot of British
Columbians break the cycle of
poverty.”
Hansman also pointed out
that school districts, like Vancouver,
that closed facilities and cut specific
programs should act quickly to reopen
and restore those important spaces
and classes.
“It will also be important to reach
out to former staff that have been laid
off or severed so that the necessary
teaching positions are filled quickly.”
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
clinical rotations for these
doctors-in-training.
It’s time to end Canada’s
doctor shortage. Provincial
governments could fund more
training positions for family
medicine. Medical schools
inside and outside Canada
have a role to play, too -- by
graduating and training more
family physicians, and steering
them to the underserved
communities that need them
most.
(Sandra Banner is the
consultant for St. George’s
University
relations
in
Canada.)