Do you really need a family doctor? I've never had one. Whenever I've had a non-emergency issue (in BC), I've just gone to a walk-in clinic where they've either helped me on the spot or referred me to a specialist. I can definitely see why having a family doctor might be a more pleasant overall experience, but as far as I understand in Canada it's practically a pipe dream.
There are no more walk/in clinics in Canada , you have to make an appointment and they will give you one based on the availability and your issue.. also when you see a specialist, they will now require a primary doctor source who will get CC’d on your test results , etc.
This is... incredible if true. How can this be? I looked up the old walk-in I used to go to (haven't needed it in a while) and it still shows up on maps but the most recent reviews says they "don't do walk-ins anymore". In which case I don't really understand what they do. Genuinely curious about the situation if anyone cares to chime in.
They're basically stand ins for family doctors. About 17% of Canadians no longer have access to primary care physicians and have to rely on either walk ins, urgent care, or the emergency room.
COVID was a big one; lot of doctors decided to just retire at once. But primary care physicians are facing issues of the workforce aging out. I think about 18,000 of the 48,000 primary care physicians are set to retire by 2030, but we only add in about 1600 new primary care physicians a year. So by we'll be down by 8400 primary care physicians by 2030 and then however many years it takes to back fill to 2024 levels.
Meanwhile Canada's increased it's population from 37 million in 2019 to 41 million in 2024, with projections of us hitting around 43 to 44 million by 2030.
Most of it stems from the fact that lot of doctors don't want to be primary care physicians. The hours aren't terrible but the pay is low good compared to their specialist care counterparts, and they have far more administrative overhead then any other specialty. And often the work is miserable and thankless. I can't remember who said it but IIRC family doctors have the highest burn out rate out of all physicians.
This is all third hand information so take it for what it's worth, and I'm assuming that I've got an overly simplified view of the issue. Someone in the medical field could probably answer better then me.
