Despite an apparent overabundance of prescription drugs in Canada, the country is in the midst of a severe shortage of physicians; a consequence that could inevitably reach the U.S.

The National Physician Survey conducted by three of Canada’s most prominent medical organizations – the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), the Canadian Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada – warns of a looming 'alarming state' in medical access if governments do not act immediately.

'The survey suggested that doctors are saying: we want to slow down. We want to work fewer hours. We want to change some of the things that we do so that we can make this a more sustainable activity,' said Dr. Rob Wedel, president of the CFPC.

A combination of factors - impending retirements of doctors, the planned scaling back of hours for lifestyle reasons and the influx of women into the medical profession - is expected to exacerbate the shortage in the next couple of years, according to an analysis of the survey released Wednesday.

They polled nearly 60,000 doctors across the country, getting responses from 36 percent. The survey is considered accurate to plus or minus 0.7 percent 19 times out of 20.

Love of the Job
Doctors reported high levels of satisfaction with their relationships with their patients, but considerable dissatisfaction with their ability to balance work and family life.

The survey confirmed the impact of a trend the medical community has been seeing for awhile. Female doctors are working fewer hours - on average, seven fewer hours a week - than their male counterparts as they try to balance work and home life.

With increasing numbers of women entering the profession - women currently make up 52 percent of doctors under age 35 - the impact of their inability or unwillingness to work 70 or 80 hours a week will continue to grow, the analysis warned. Almost half of family doctors under the age of 35 said their practices are either partly or completely closed to new patients.

'Clearly one of the things that comes out over and over again is that we love the work we do,' said Wedel. 'It's the workplace that's giving us the problems. The administration and the number of hours is what's wearing us down.'

Finding a Solution
The survey found that in the next two years, 3,800 doctors plan to retire and 26 percent of doctors plan to curtail their hours, while only four percent will increase them. Of practicing family doctors, 60 percent reported they are not taking new patients or are limiting the number of new patients they take.

Other findings of the survey help to explain a problem the public has been complaining about for some time: waiting times.

Thirty percent of specialists surveyed said they could not fit an urgent referral into their schedule within a week. One-third of specialists said they couldn't see a non-urgent referral in less than three months.

A similar situation exists among specialists, with one-third reporting that they could not see non-urgent cases referred to them in less than three months, or an urgent referral within a week.

The findings suggest action to handle the problem including an increased number of medical school placements and integrating foreign-trained doctors into the system.