Staff
While the report indicates there are 1,800 more doctors practising medicine in Ontario than there were in 2003, and medical school spaces have been increased by 23 percent, with twice as many students expected to graduate in 2013 than did in 2003, the question remains how many of them want to come to a northern, rural community?
The report said one-in-five Canadians live in rural areas, but less than one-in-10 physicians practice in rural areas.
In addition to the recruitment obstacles faced elsewhere, rural and northern centres face problems like:
•limited spousal employment;
•limited cultural-religious infrastructure to support the values of a multicultural graduating class;
•greater distances and costly travel;
•complaints of personal privacy; and
•no research opportunities.
And when it comes to retention, a recent survey by the Thunder Bay Medical Association outlined concerns of doctors practising in northern communities, with spousal contentment with the community being very influential in family decisions to stay in the north.
Other concerns included:
•a lack of time for family life;
•a lack of access to relatives and friends;
•a lack of uninterrupted free time away from work;
•ease of travel in and out of the community;
•quality of education for their children;
•availability of cultural events;
•availability of recreation; and
•compatibility with the medical community.
On the other side of the coin, in addition to local recruitment efforts, the province and other parties have taken steps to try and address these problems.
For example, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), a joint venture of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian University in Sudbury, hopefully will see its first graduating young doctors staying in the north once they start practising in 2011.
The report said the classes of 2006-08 have included 89-91 percent individuals from Northern Ontario, and up to 11 percent of students self-identified as aboriginal.
These students spend four weeks during their first year in First Nations’ communities, spend a period of time in small communities (like Emo or Rainy River) in year two, and then spend their entire third year in host communities like Fort Frances (Fort Frances has, in the past, received two students each year).
And just on Friday, the province said it is replacing its Underserviced Areas Program with two new ones that will help communities that have a hard time recruiting doctors.
The Northern and Rural Recruitment and Retention Initiative will provide grants to doctors and new doctor graduates who agree to practise in a northern or highly-rural community.
The grant amount for Fort Frances has been increased from $80,000 to $115,000.
The second is the Post-graduate Return of Service Program, in which international medical graduates agree to practise for five years in any Ontario community, except the Toronto area and Ottawa, in exchange for post-graduate training opportunities.
Previously, these doctors were restricted to practising in rural and northern communities for five years, following graduation.
As well, the report indicates the Family Health Team model brought in here several years ago has shown positive results here, and there is a consensus among committee members, experts, and officials that the model is the best available to attract new physicians.
