Canada desperately needs more family doctors. Why are we making it harder to be one?

In today’s Big Story Podcast, depending on where you live in this country, there’s a between one-in-three and one-in-six chance that you don’t have a family doctor. And the number of Canadians without one is rising rapidly. Now, at a time when older doctors are leaving the profession, the College of Family Physicians of Canada has announced plans to increase the time would-be family doctors are required to train from two years to three. Even if it’s well-intentioned, the move has sparked opposition from experts and health ministers, who say we’re in a crisis and desperately need new doctors.

Dr. Cathy Risdon, a family doctor and Chair of Family Medicine at McMaster University, says the added benefits of increasing the length of training for family doctors may outweigh any potential costs.

“By continuing to support trainees in a third year, in settings which offer them a chance to practice comprehensive medicine, we actually may come out ahead,” says Risdon.

So why raise the years required to become a family doctor now? And what could we do that would help encourage young students to choose this path?