Hamilton Why dont they let foreign doctors to practise?

This is in reference to the preceding post. Why does the government not create a new class of practi0nioners as a alternative to the existing crisis ? Stop gap the problem -while the existing system gets fixed. QJ

Hamilton: "OMA: shortage places system 'at risk'

By Keith Leslie
Canadian Press


Monday, November 21, 2005



CREDIT: National Post
The Ontario Medical Association says the province's health care system is 'at risk' due to a shortage of doctors.

CH HAMILTON
Back to Hamilton city page
OMA: shortage places system 'at risk'

By Keith Leslie
Canadian Press


Monday, November 21, 2005



CREDIT: National Post
The Ontario Medical Association says the province's health care system is 'at risk' due to a shortage of doctors.

ADVERTISEMENT



TORONTO -- The stability of Ontario's health-care system is "at risk'' due to the shortage of physicians -- especially family doctors -- according to a new study prepared for the Ontario Medical Association.

The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the report, prepared by the OMA's human resources committee, which said the doctor shortage in Ontario had become much worse since it first warned the problem represented a "looming crisis'' in 1999.

"The year 2005 finds the province in the midst of a deepening physician resources crisis,'' it concludes.

"Family medicine in particular has deteriorated into a dying specialty and requires urgent resuscitation.''

Last Thursday, Health Minister George Smitherman announced an additional $33 million in government funding for medical schools to create 141 new family residency positions in the province next year. Smitherman said that means there will be 337 more family doctors ready to practise by 2008.

The OMA's report acknowledged the Liberal government's efforts to address the doctor shortage, but gave the province an overall grade of C, and said much more must be done.

"The government has taken a number of steps to increase the number of doctors trained in Ontario, and certifying those who trained abroad...(and) to make Ontario more competitive with other jurisdictions,'' OMA President Dr. Greg Flynn said in an e-mail exchange with The Canadian Press.

"Unfortunately there remains more to do before we will see real improvements in the ability of patients to access the necessary care that doctors provide in our communities.''

The OMA report said the province needs at least 2,100 physicians. It estimated there are 1.2 million Ontario residents without a family doctor -- 10 per cent of the population -- and warned that number would grow to 1.4 million in 2006.

Ontario now is seventh in Canada for the population per physician ratio, ahead of only the much less populous provinces of New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.

The report also warned the number of physicians working in specialties with long waiting lists -- such as diagnostic services, oncology, orthopedics and ophthalmology -- is also declining.

"Even worse, OMA projections indicate a further deterioration of the physician supply over the next five years, despite the efforts taken to ease the shortage.''

Writing from Sault Ste. Marie, Flynn said he heard about the problem in every one of the 22 Ontario communities he's visited in the last few months to meet with municipal leaders, health-care workers and patients.

"The number one concern in each of those communities remains the doctor shortage,'' he said.

The report warned that statistics alone "don't adequately describe the depth of the problem,'' noting that while the population is aging and putting more demands on the health-care system, doctors are getting older too. It found 19 per cent of practising MDs -- about 4,100 Ontario doctors -- are over age 60, and 11 per cent -- or 2,300 doctors -- are over age 65.

"Retirement alone will greatly impact physician supply over the next five years, while many other older MDs will be scaling back their practices, adding to the overall shortage of physician services,'' it said.

The report provides a lengthy list of recommendations to address the shortage, and said the government should make it easier for doctors from other provinces to work in Ontario and for the more than 10,000 Canadian-trained physicians working in the United States to return and work here.

"Much more can be done to successfully and quickly recruit excellent physicians from this pool,'' it said.

The OMA also wants the province to make family medicine a much more attractive option for students, with better financial incentives, and also give the students more opportunities to re-certify in another specialty.


© Canadian Press 2005




TORONTO -- The stability of Ontario's health-care system is 'at risk'' due to the shortage of physicians -- especially family doctors -- according to a new study prepared for the Ontario Medical Association. "