OMA Section of Medical Students hopes new survey will help them understand students’ perspective on family medicine as a speciality
Family medicine residencies are going unfilled – again. The latest first-round results from the Canadian Residency Matching Service show 96 unfilled family medicine residencies in Ontario.
With 4.4 million Ontarians projected to be without a family doctor by next year, this trend is particularly troubling. We spoke with Maxim Matyashin, the chair of the OMA Section of Medical Students and president of the Ontario Medical Students Association, to dive deeper into this issue.
What are the key factors contributing to this trend, and how can we work to address the shortage of family medicine residents?
A: It’s clear, students are not choosing family medicine because of the compensation structure and the administrative burden. When you’re a medical student with a quarter of a million dollars in debt, it’s really hard to choose a specialty that is not appreciated, where you’re a small business owner and half your paycheque is going to supporting your livelihood. We’ve worked with family doctors, we’ve seen how they have to work overtime for free, how they have to take weekends to continue their work. It’s a very hard choice to select family medicine. Those issues need to be systemically addressed, first and foremost, before any change can happen.
Learn more about the historic challenge Ontario is facing in family medicine, and what the OMA is advocating for.
We’ve worked with family doctors, we’ve seen how they have to work overtime for free, how they have to take weekends to continue their work. It’s a very hard choice to select family medicine. Those issues need to be systemically addressed, first and foremost, before any change can happen.
The OMA Section of Medical Students is surveying medical students to better understand their perspectives on family medicine in Ontario. How do you plan to use the data to drive positive change in the health-care system?
A: Our work is trying to fill the gaps. The goal behind the survey is to figure out what the current medical education curriculum is not covering with regard to family practice. One of the big things is financial literacy, understanding how to be a business owner and fill some of the learning gaps between the end of med school and the start of practice.
We’re thinking of launching a campaign and teaching students some of those skills so they don’t feel burdened going into family medicine, as well as continuing to look at the results and ask, what is it that students want from family physicians? What are they wanting from their education? What are they not getting? And how can we build on that?
Maxim Matyashin is chair of the OMA Section of Medical Students and president of the Ontario Medical Students Association. He is a medical student at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, class of 2025.
How can we better engage and support students to consider family medicine?
Survey results coming in show most students feel that family physicians are important or very important to the functioning of our health-care system. The core issue is they aren’t choosing family medicine because it’s not well-compensated and it has all these systemic issues attached to it. I think if those problems are not addressed, then this will never change.
How can we encourage practising physicians, especially family physicians, to get involved and support the next generation of students and residents?
A: We have new medical schools and medical campuses opening across Ontario that are specifically geared to family medicine and I think that’s an amazing step. But who’s going to be teaching these students? I’ve had students who have been interested in family medicine their entire medical school journey, and they cannot find a family doctor to take them on and teach them and mentor them. They’re not wanting to take on mentorship opportunities with students because it takes time out of their days, which are already stretched so thin. Most of the mentors that we have in medical school right now are specialists, are surgeons. We need to change that.
How do you anticipate today’s results will impact the broader health-care system?
A: Some graduates of family medicine are going to specialize afterwards and leave comprehensive family medical practice, and that’s where we’re struggling. We need people that are interested in that type of practice. The remaining family medicine residency spots might be filled after the second CaRMS round, but the problem is going to continue. We’re not going to have enough family doctors training, and of those currently in training, a good portion are not going to stay in comprehensive family medicine. So, we’re just putting band-aids on this problem, and it’s quite worrying. We need these solutions pushed through.
Jessica Smith is a staff writer at the OMA.