Doctor shortage is no easy fix

Anyone in Peterborough who has a family doctor surely appreciates the service their doctor provides.

This past Wednesday was National Physicians’ Day, and part of the message is to encourage patients to recognize and show appreciation for the work doctors do.

Good on you if you did. Family doctors work hard, have a challenging job, and would appreciate a card or note or a pleasant reminder from during a visit that they are appreciated.

Of course, that’s true of most people, whether they are working and providing a service, running a home and keeping a family on the rails, or volunteering their time to help others.

But doctors are getting a lot of attention because there are too few of them, and the deficit is growing.

Estimates of the number of people in Peterborough city and county without a personal physician vary widely. Last fall a doctor recruiter told city council there are 15,000 “orphan patients.” In February, the Ontario College of Family Physicians said the number is more than twice as high, 32,000, and could double over the next two years.

Concern grew in some quarters with the recent federal budget change in how capital gains are taxed. Various organizations that represent doctors said the changes would punish them financially and be one more reason for medical school graduates to avoid family medicine in favour of other, more lucrative specialties.

That fear was compounded in March when the first round of specialty matches for graduating medical students was announced. In Ontario, 108 of 560 family medicine residency spaces went unfilled. The concern seemed real: if newly graduating doctors aren’t willing to go into family medicine, opening new medical schools isn’t going to help solve the problem.

However, by the time the final round of what is known as “matching” was completed, only two family medicine slots reserved for military doctors were open.

That happened in part because Ontario and other provinces have made it easier for Canadian students who earned medical degrees overseas to return here to practice. Canada-wide, 671 international graduates will fill residence spaces this year, up from 439 two years ago.

That’s a welcome trend given that Ontario plans to open to new medical schools by 2028. It indicates that there is an appetite among young people to study medicine and to work as family doctors — contrary to the story some are spreading.

The capital gains blow-up is proof the doctor shortage — like most of the big, broad problems that face society — is complicated and nuanced.

The tax change itself is complex, and won’t bite physicians all that hard. It reduces an existing tax break, which no one likes, but is less of a good thing, not a new punishment. One analysis found the hit would be two or three per cent of post-retirement income for a group that earns well beyond average income.

Another positive sign is the provincial government’s commitment to fund new family health teams. Currently, 60 per cent of Ontario’s family doctors are in a health team model, where they get more administrative support and can work fewer hours. That’s what young doctors are looking for, but the province had ended the program out of concern that it was more costly and led to doctors serving fewer patients.

The doctor shortage has been with us for decades and will take years to correct. But recent steps are encouraging, and young people considering a medical career should know they will be both appreciated and well compensated for the work they do.

The capital gains blow-up is proof the doctor shortage — like most of the big, broad problems that face society — is complicated and nuanced