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From Vancouver to St. John’s, doctors are in demand. Big time. In fact, the College of Family Physicians of Canada says that about five million Canadians are without a family doctor. The result of several interconnected factors – from an ageing population to education constraints – our shortage of physicians and specialists means one thing for graduates looking for work: an abundance of job prospects and perks.
Cause for shortage
“It takes many years to train a physician in Canada, so the current shortage is largely a ripple effect from the decision to cut enrolment (in medical schools and residency programs) in the early 90s,” explains Dr. Sarita Verma, Deputy Dean of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine.This is compounded by longer training requirements to become a doctor, policies that restrict foreign doctors from practicing in Canada and the growing needs of our ageing population. “The demographic shift creates more demand for services than are available” Dr. Verma explains. Finally, younger doctors don’t want to work the same long hours as their predecessors did, she adds, which means more doctors are needed to fill the same work schedule.
Incentives for doctors
Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures as regions jockey to create financial and housing inducements to entice physicians to their area. For example, the small communities of Brock, Saskatchewan, and Ignace, Ontario, each provide a house to doctors.Meanwhile, Ontario’s Hastings County offers prospective family physicians $25,000 a year to cover the cost of up to six years of medical training. The catch? Those doctors must provide five years of service to the community. Launched in 2006, the program managed to attract nine family doctors in just two years. Belleville, Ontario, which has been offering similar incentives since 2007, has already recruited more than 15 physicians.
A little creativity with incentives can go a long way – and young doctors are cashing in.
Different push and pull factors help workers decide what kind of work they’d like to do – and in which province. Read more about these issues:
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