Family medicine is once again being shunned by future Quebec doctors, while 91 positions remained vacant after the first round of choice of specialties by residents, we learned The newspaper.
“It’s a great sadness, it’s an acknowledgment of the failure of the measures we are trying to put in place,” reacts the Dr Marc-André Amyot, president of the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ).
“At some point, you’re going to have to realize that something is happening. There is a crisis in family medicine, and it is only going to get worse,” he adds.
While thousands of Quebecers often wait several years to have access to a family doctor, it is clear that students who have completed their doctorate in medicine prefer all other specialties to primary care.
Nearly 100 vacant positions
Data from the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) revealed yesterday that 91 family medicine positions remained vacant in Quebec’s four universities, out of a total of 528 positions. This represents 17% of all positions.
Family medicine vacancies by faculty:
- Laval University: 31
- University of Montreal: 26
- University of Sherbrooke: 20 (including 4 positions assigned to Moncton)
- McGill University: 14
*Source: CaRMS
For comparison, there were 99 vacant positions last year, after the first round of matching. As for other specialties, only six positions remained vacant in Quebec, according to data obtained by the FMOQ. For 12 years, 600 positions have not been filled, according to the union.
“The big problem is the paperwork, the cumbersomeness, the denigration, the pressure on the shoulders of family doctors, the difficulties in treating patients,” lists the Dr Amyot. All this means that students are less and less interested in family medicine.”
Less paperwork?
However, the union recently managed to reach an agreement with the government to reduce the bureaucratic burden of employment disability forms.
“What we have done until now is not enough, not sufficient,” notes the Dr Amyot.
Furthermore, the latter mentions the significant difference in remuneration with other specialists, who often earn 30% more.
Note that a second round of student matching will take place in April, which should make it possible to fill a few family residence positions. However, the FMOQ has observed for several years that students sometimes prefer to take a sabbatical year rather than having to choose the first line.
In the rest of Canada, nearly 150 family medicine positions also remained vacant after the first round.