Family Medicine In Canada

[Epidemic]

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Hi,

I'm a Canadian student at an American med school. I'm contemplating coming back to do family med with the possibility of doing the 1 year emergency medicine training. What's family med like in Canada in terms of hours, compensation, etc. Also what is do you see in the emergency department? I ask because here in the States a lot of people complain that the ER is simply a primary care clinic for people without insurance.

Thanks.

 

[rbrun]

i noticed the same thing when i lived in the states - backed up EDs with a lot of uninsured patients. the backlog here, from what i have gathered, is due more to the lack of FPs than any other reason. patients show up in the ED when a simple, scheduled visit to their family doctor would have better handled the problem.

 

[leviathan]

The EDs are the same here in Canada. Low volume acute patients, high volume "back pain x 15 years" emergencies presenting at 1pm when walk-in family clinics are still open.