Canada would need 4700 new doctors if overtime stopped

Aug 18 2004

A new report from the Canadian Medical Association on Canada's doctor shortage suggests that Canada would need 4700 new doctors if the doctors who currently work over 60 hours a week stopped doing so. The report also suggest that if Canada followed the EU framework for working hours, 13,000 additional doctors would be needed.

The report "Who has seen the winds of change? Toward a sustainable Canadian physician workforce", was written by a working group chaired by CMA Past President Dana Hanson.

Dr. Hanson said, "it is foolish to run a $120-billion system without a cogent plan to staff it."

$1-billion federal funding is required to increase capacity and postgraduate training slots as well as providing a fast track to practice for international medical graduates. The report also cites the need to establish recruitment and retention programs for health care providers.

The report also calls for less reliance on IMGs, who currently account for about 23% of Canadian physicians. Dr. Hanson said the CMA would like to see Canadians receive more opportunities to attend medical school. "We want international graduates," he said, "but we don't want to be dependent on them." The report calls for Canadian medical schools to supply at least 80% of the country's practicing physicians by 2015.