Canadian Doctors: Have You Got What It Takes?

by Barry Artiste | June 1, 2008 at 08:16 am | 423 views | 7 comments

Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor
Canada's Doctor shortage is explained by Doctors who go through the Trials and Tribulations, explain what is required in order to get that MD at the end of their name.

Many apply but few are accepted, and even fewer complete what is debtors hell once successful.

Perhaps Communities which need doctors should make a deal with doctors in debt. Have doctors sign a contract whereby every year they serve in a community a portion of the doctors debt will be paid by the community and after 5 years the doctors debt is paid in full.

Hopefully after 5 years in a community, the doctor will have put down roots and elect to stay in that community.
If not, at least that community had the services of a doctor for those 5 years.

Perhaps a cure, that ails both the community and the doctor.

Of course, the Canadian Military pay all costs for those who wish to join the Canadian Armed Forces, as long as they stay in the military for a set number of years.

Manufacturing Doctors

Can Canada's medical schools really cure our physician shortage?

By CHRISTINA SPENCER

By 8 a.m. on May 15, 2007, Ryerson engineering grad Shawn Mondoux was at the computer, waiting to find out if he'd made it into med school.

"I needed to bring the cat to the vet that morning, but I was up early and kept refreshing my Hotmail," the 24-year-old Elliot Lake, Ont., native recalls. Finally, good news: The University of Ottawa had accepted him.

At about the same time, Sandra Naaman, completing her doctorate in clinical psychology, sat anxiously in her office.

"I was checking my e-mail at a very compulsive rate every five or 10 minutes," she says. When her med school acceptance arrived, "I bawled, I just cried -- then I called my mom."

Both students have now finished their first year of medical school. Along with more than 2,500 other would-be doctors, they face three more years to obtain an MD degree. But that's just the start: Once they've got it, they must pursue residency programs that last from two to seven years. Some will take additional training. Many will rack up gargantuan debts.

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jordan

at 10:05 on June 1st, 2008

good stuff:

Many doctors, during their residencies, do extra shift work to make some money on the side (residents make the equivalent of eight bucks an hour), and remote areas pay a premium for on-call specialists.

Barry Artiste

at 10:15 on June 1st, 2008

Imagine that ! Minimum wage while in residency for the prestige of putting MD at the end of their name.

Thanks for the comments and GS Jordan

Mike Wood

at 12:43 on June 1st, 2008

Is it any wonder why some Canadian Doctors go elsewhere.

Mike Wood

at 12:43 on June 1st, 2008

good stuff:

Barry Artiste, I like this story. It's good stuff.

michelle.sundvick

at 13:40 on June 1st, 2008

good stuff:

Barry Artiste, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Wow I had no idea their wages worked out to be that low...

I'm a university student and I have so many friends who want to become doctors but due to the intense competition for a spot in a Canadian medical school it's becoming common to go to med school in Australia. Although the cost is significantly higher than staying in Canada, it's just way easier to get into one of their schools.

Barry Artiste

at 14:47 on June 1st, 2008

The good news in the end they certainly make good money, but getting there is certainly a battle, and like Mike Wood says, can you blame em for moving to the USA for the Big Bucks