Have you had to leave your hometown for medical treatment? Send us your stories.

[CBC News]

Newfoundland and Labrador Health Minister Ross Wiseman says the government will consider flying patients with cervical, ovarian or other cancers out of the province for treatment if the three remaining specialists resign.
Three specialists who treat women with cancers of the reproductive system have informed the Eastern Health regional authority that they intend to resign in October.
Doctors Cathy Popadiuk, Lesa Dawson and Patti Power, who have not yet commented publicly on their decision, have said that workloads are threatening patient safety. They also decided to leave for what has been described as a lack of respect in their workplace.
Full story.
Tell us your stories of receiving medical treatment away from your hometown.


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[lone wolf]

Are doctors going extinct in Canada?

 

[TenPenny]

No, but some have decided that they don't like being paid very little, and treated like crap, so they're moving to other places (Halifax, Toronto, etc).

 

[tracy]

It's bound to be a problem in a country with a small population in such a large geographical area. Not every place can support having specialists of all kinds. I grew up in Kamloops, but saw specialists in Vancouver when I was a teenager. Radiation isn't offered in Kamloops, you have to go to Kelowna. There are tons of examples. It's a pain in the butt, however I don't see a reasonable alternative when you have limited resources.

 

[lone wolf]

It's bound to be a problem in a country with a small population in such a large geographical area. Not every place can support having specialists of all kinds. I grew up in Kamloops, but saw specialists in Vancouver when I was a teenager. Radiation isn't offered in Kamloops, you have to go to Kelowna. There are tons of examples. It's a pain in the butt, however I don't see a reasonable alternative when you have limited resources.

It shouldn't be a problem in a country who can supply medical aid to third world nations.

 

[Zzarchov]

To be fair, we only supply basic medical aid. There is no shortage of basic medical aid in Canada.

 

[lone wolf]

To be fair, we only supply basic medical aid. There is no shortage of basic medical aid in Canada.

There is of doctors though ... and that's the most basic of needs

 

[Night Safari]

To be fair, we only supply basic medical aid. There is no shortage of basic medical aid in Canada.

According to the Canadian College of Physicians and Surgeons, we have less than 50% of our newly trained doctors going into Family medicine since 2002.
Going into a Specialty is much more lucrative as the earnings and job opportunities in larger Communities are much higher.

 

[Night Safari]

Well, I stand corrected. Here's C.F.P.C.'s latest update:

"Family Medicine appears to be regaining some of its lost luster."

Initial results from the residency match completed March 1 indicate that 28 per cent of students graduating from Canada’s 13 English-language medical schools made family medicine their first career choice in 2005. Although this is a far cry from the 35 per cent level the specialty enjoyed as recently as 1997, it is a marked improvement from the low of around 24 per cent set just two years ago and the 26 per cent level in 2004.

“I don’t know if we can call this a trend yet, but the numbers are moving upwards,” said Sandra Banner, executive director of the Canadian Resident Matching Service. She said this may reflect the attention the subject has been receiving from the CMA, College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), Canadian Association of Interns and Residents and other groups, as well as individual medical schools."

In my area many people have no Family Physician and must rely on Walk-In Clinics for their health care. Often the average wait is 2 hours or longer. I find that very disturbing as it complicates proper health care for many Canadians.

 

[TenPenny]

One thing you'll find about the new docs going into family practice: they don't want to work 60 to 80 hours/week like the old ones did. (Imagine that! These young whippersnappers want a life!) In about 5 years, you'll need 2 docs for every one now, just to carry the same load. It's getting very interesting in many places.

 

[scratch]

Well, I stand corrected. Here's C.F.P.C.'s latest update:

"Family Medicine appears to be regaining some of its lost luster."

Initial results from the residency match completed March 1 indicate that 28 per cent of students graduating from Canada’s 13 English-language medical schools made family medicine their first career choice in 2005. Although this is a far cry from the 35 per cent level the specialty enjoyed as recently as 1997, it is a marked improvement from the low of around 24 per cent set just two years ago and the 26 per cent level in 2004.

“I don’t know if we can call this a trend yet, but the numbers are moving upwards,” said Sandra Banner, executive director of the Canadian Resident Matching Service. She said this may reflect the attention the subject has been receiving from the CMA, College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), Canadian Association of Interns and Residents and other groups, as well as individual medical schools."

In my area many people have no Family Physician and must rely on Walk-In Clinics for their health care. Often the average wait is 2 hours or longer. I find that very disturbing as it complicates proper health care for many Canadians.

My doctor is a 3 minute walk from me, the hospital 15 minute walk. Never had to wait more than 30 minutes.

 

[lone wolf]

My doctor is a 3 minute walk from me, the hospital 15 minute walk. Never had to wait more than 30 minutes.

I don't have a doctor - but I do have ongoing heart issues that have to be explained to every clinic doctor I see. That takes more that the ten minutes they allot per patient. The hospital is a half-hour drive and so is the nearest clinic. I can count on a four hour wait -unless I claim chest pain. I'm not a good liar....

 

[scratch]

I don't have a doctor - but I do have ongoing heart issues that have to be explained to every clinic doctor I see. That takes more that the ten minutes they allot per patient. The hospital is a half-hour drive and so is the nearest clinic. I can count on a four hour wait -unless I claim chest pain. I'm not a good liar....

Hey lw, just another horror story about our vaunted system. I feel for you.
scratch

 

[Zzarchov]

To be fair, Family Practice is usually one of the biggest waste of resources.

I never had a family doctor growing up, nor did my siblings nor my parents nor my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents (on one side).

If we had an emergency or noticed something odd, we went to the hospital or a clinic. That happened all of twice amongst my extended family.

I do not have a family doctor (I had one briefly when I got married), but after some near death due to incompetance, I've reverted to not having one, as has my wife.

Though I know alot of people who go in all the frickin time for every little hack and cough. Maybe its a good use of resources, reducing disease etc, I can't say.

But It seems odd my whole extended family is happy and healthy for 30 years without any. The problem seems to be people who don't need them, using up room needed for people who do.

 

[scratch]

To be fair, Family Practice is usually one of the biggest waste of resources.

I never had a family doctor growing up, nor did my siblings nor my parents nor my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents (on one side).

If we had an emergency or noticed something odd, we went to the hospital or a clinic. That happened all of twice amongst my extended family.

I do not have a family doctor (I had one briefly when I got married), but after some near death due to incompetance, I've reverted to not having one, as has my wife.

Though I know alot of people who go in all the frickin time for every little hack and cough. Maybe its a good use of resources, reducing disease etc, I can't say.

But It seems odd my whole extended family is happy and healthy for 30 years without any. The problem seems to be people who don't need them, using up room needed for people who do.

I'll second that, and say our system is where it is because it is horribly abused. I see my doctor every six months for 30 minutes.
I have been doing this for 35 years.
People die because others waste a doctor's time. IMO: that's criminal.

 

[tracy]

Doctors have had a hand in making themselves a scarce resource. The most vocal opponents of using nurse practitionners and midwives for primary care have been doctors. They could service the majority of patients for routine needs.

 

[tracy]

It shouldn't be a problem in a country who can supply medical aid to third world nations.

We give very little away. I can't begrudge someone in Guatemala using supplies we would throw away in Canada. That's how a lot of medical missions collect supplies. Perfectly good equipment that we would throw away in the hospital would instead be put in a collection box. It happens all the time. I would open a suture removal kit and get an extra set of scissors and gauze I didn't need. It's perfectly good, but not good enough for a Canadian patient so it went to Guatemala. The staff usually volunteered their time.

Really, the stories participants had after those kinds of missions just made me realize how good Canadians have it. There are problems for sure, but most of the world's population would thank their lucky stars if they were able to see a doctor at all. A drive and a wait wouldn't be such a big deal to them.