Shortage created by the system
Dear editor: Dr. Alan Broome, a beloved Kelowna family doctor, is one of an entire generation of family physicians in B.C. who are retiring and cannot find anybody to take over their practice (Courier, March 30). Why are family doctors now on the verge of extinction in B.C., in spite of being highly valued by their patients?
Young physicians who are trained to practice family medicine should be “running” to be like Dr. Broome as an exemplary physician. Instead of lining up to carry on this Canadian legacy of high-quality patient-centered care, why are B.C. physicians choosing everything but full-service general practice?
Just ask family doctors like Dr. Broome who are the real experts in primary care. “It’s the system that creates the shortage. It’s not the absence of doctors,” he said. “There are enough hospitalist doctors to cover this city so everybody could have a doctor. Many doctors have also transitioned to doing only administrative work. There’s a huge number of doctors that don’t even see patients anymore. They just do administration.” What is wrong with this picture? In policy, there is a well-known saying “Every system is perfectly designed to obtain the result that it gets.” The sad truth is traditional family doctors are disappearing because of the gross devaluation of their fees that have turned family medicine into a non-viable business model.
Having a good doctor can make the difference between health or disability. For seniors and many patients with complex illnesses, having a family doctor who knows them - an experienced diagnostician with the knowledge and skills to manage multiple complex conditions — is a matter of life and death.
What can be done to change this unacceptable situation caused by decades of misguided political decision-making? The power of the citizens as a movement is needed to save family practice from extinction.
This is really about empowering the people and advocating for their right to have a family physician as a priceless asset for the health of the whole community. Caroline Ying-Mei Wang, MD, MPA Vancouver