(Montreal) Family medicine continues to be shunned by students, deplores the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ), which is calling for action to make this specialty more attractive.
At the end of the first round of selection of future physicians by the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CARMS), there are 99 unfilled places for family medicine residents in Quebec faculties.
This platform is used to match students and faculties of medicine based on the choice of specialties expressed by future residents. By comparison, only 12 specialty medicine residency positions remain vacant after the first round.
For the FMOQ, this is yet another disappointment, as more than 500 places in residence have not found takers for ten years. A second round should fill some of the available positions, but it will take about a month to get an update on the situation.
“We will fill some, but we will not fill everything,” warns the president of the FMOQ, Dr. Marc-André Amyot.
Quebec faculties of medicine invited to comment on the situation by La Presse Canadienne rightly replied that they wanted to wait for the outcome of the second round before deciding.
However, according to the FMOQ, we are seeing more and more students prefer to take a sabbatical year or go to work in a laboratory before trying their luck again in another specialty rather than choosing family medicine as a second choice.
According to Dr. Amyot, a certain denigration of family medicine has left its mark over time. In addition, the heaviness of the task may put off some young doctors who see the population aging and its health care needs increase.
In addition, the constraints surrounding the practice of general practitioners, including paperwork and the lack of support resources, can also dampen the enthusiasm of some candidates.
He dreams of a better organization of services so that patient follow-up can be carried out by nurses, nutritionists or pharmacists according to the patient’s needs. From experience, he argues that medical students want to practice medicine at all times rather than filling out forms, renewing prescriptions or performing other related tasks.
According to the FMOQ, there is a shortage of approximately 1,100 family physicians simply to restore parity with specialists in Quebec. This calculation also does not take into account the anticipated losses of physicians who will soon be retiring.
“And that is underrated!” I tell you, it’s underestimated, “insists Dr. Amyot who practices in the Lanaudière region.
If we refer to the “Regional medical staffing plans (PREM) in family medicine” 2023 of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, 55 places are available for general practitioners in intermediate and remote regions as well as 58 places are available for doctors already in practice in university and peripheral regions.
In addition, there are 30 accessible places for new doctors in university and peripheral regions.
The objective of these PREMs is to distribute the workforce equitably among the regions of Quebec. A doctor must obtain a place to establish his practice of family medicine. If he chooses to settle in a region where there are no places available, he will see his remuneration reduced by 30% by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec for a period of five years, specifies Dr. Amyot.
The FMOQ would like this approach to be modified in order to promote the implementation of incentives rather than penalties.
He adds that these benefits do not have to be solely monetary. For example, the FMOQ suggests the deployment of seduction measures such as scholarships for students from the regions, daycare places when they return to their hometown, summer jobs in the health system of their region in order to maintain the bond of belonging.
These proposals will be the subject of exchanges between the federation and the ministry, mentioned Dr. Amyot who hopes to succeed in reversing the trend.
