Quebec losing its new family doctors: report

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1109013013358_104422213?hub=Canada

Quebec losing its new family doctors: report
CTV.ca News Staff

The Quebec government’s attempt to direct new family doctors to more remote areas of the province has backfired.

Quebec has been losing nearly one-third of its new general practitioners to other provinces after a policy came into effect requiring them to start their careers outside of Montreal.

Saul Oberman, who is in his last year of residency at Montreal’s St. Mary’s Hospital, wants to start in career in Montreal so he can be near his girlfriend.

And if he can’t stay there when his residency is over, he may not stay in the province. «If I can’t find a place within a couple hours commute of Montreal, then I will leave just as others have done,» he tells CTV News.

If he doesn’t go where the provincial government tells him to practice, the price is a 30 per cent pay cut.

Patrick Hamel was given the same stark choice. So he left for Thunder Bay, Ont., where he’s making twice the money. «I was forced to go work in poor conditions, for poor income, in the boonies of Quebec,» he says.

Of the 214 new general practitioners who graduated in Quebec last year, 69 left the province. The province is estimated to have an overall shortage of 800 GPs.

Dr. Mark Roper works as a doctor recruiter for the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. He says physicians outside Quebec won’t even consider moving there anymore.

«I get calls from London, England and from Boston. And once the doctors, the potential new recruits, are informed of the new regulations, they don’t even bother proceeding,» he says.

Only 34 positions have been set aside for Montreal — which is where most doctors want to start their practices. Those who aren’t accepted in Montreal must then apply to other regions until they get a permit.

However, despite the grumbling by doctors, the province’s health minister says he is mainly concerned for patients.

«We have doctors practicing where there were none before, and that’s big progress for Quebecers,» says Philippe Couillard.

Oberman says the government’s rules are based on flawed data.

CFCF News says the North Shore region has one doctor for every 826 residents while Montreal’s ratio is one to 1,061.

With a report from CTV’s Jed Kahane

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Pobres quebeckers, hasta los mismos doctores se estan yendo a otras provincias donde ganan el doble y con menos trabas.