While thousands of Quebecers still have to wait years before getting a family doctor, medical students continue to shun this specialty, and 99 positions remained vacant following the first round of selection.
“It is extremely worrying, reacts the Dr Marc-André Amyot, president of the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ). It is clear that the heaviness of the work on the ground is too considerable.
Joël Lemay / Agence QMI
Dr. Marc-André Amyot, President of the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec
Each year, students completing their MD must make a choice of specialty through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (Carms). After the first round, the results of which were released yesterday, 99 positions in family medicine remained vacant in the four universities in Quebec. This year, 514 positions were available according to the FMOQ.
Vacancies in Quebec in family medicine:
University of Sherbrooke: 38
University of Montreal: 27
Laval University: 26
McGill University: 8
Total: 99
Source: Canadian Resident Matching Service (Carms)
A shunned specialty
The situation is far from improving, since there were 98 vacancies last year, following the first round.
“Everyone must be extremely concerned by the fact that year following year, family medicine is always a second choice, reacts Dr. Pascale Breault, medical director of the university GMF of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. It pains me to see that my specialty does not attract.
In comparison, only 12 positions in all other specialties remained vacant in Quebec.
Vacancies in other specialties in Quebec
Internal medicine: 11 at Laval University
Anesthesia: 1 at McGill University
This means that 90% of empty chairs following the first round of selection are in family medicine. However, the FMOQ recognizes that the prevailing discourse has been more positive with regard to family physicians for some time. We would have hoped that this would be reflected in the attractiveness of this specialty.
“I expected some improvement, admits the Dr Amyot. But I’m surprised…yes and no. The doctors on the ground tell us that it is difficult.
According to the union, this result will do nothing to help find a solution to the shortage of at least 1,100 family doctors in Quebec. It should also be noted that a quarter of general practitioners are over 60 years old. According to Dr. Breault, this lack of attractiveness is all the more problematic with the aging of the population.
“The future is us. (…) It is we who go to the houses with the nurses to provide home care or to prevent people from going to the emergency room, ”underlines the one who trains students.
Among the factors that are detrimental to this specialty, the FMOQ notes the heavy administrative workload (25% of working time), compulsory hours in the hospital or in a CHSLD as well as an income that is up to 50% lower than that of other specialties.
“We may say that we are going to support the doctors in their daily work, but the staff to help us in the FMGs is slow to come! note Dr Amyot. Students do internships, they compare and see the difference.”
In the rest of Canada, 171 family medicine positions were not chosen. Overall, 77% of vacancies in the country relate to this specialty. A second round of selection will take place in the coming weeks, which should make it possible to fill some positions. The Dr Amyot is sorry, however, that students will take these positions as a secondary choice.
“Are they going to be happy? That’s always what saddens me a bit,” he said.
