Canada desperately needs more family docs. Why are we making it harder to be one?

The Big Story

Depending on where you live, there's a between one-in-three and one-in-six chance that you don't have a family doctor. And the number of Canadians without one is rising rapidly. Now, at a time when older doctors are leaving the profession, the College of Family Physicians of Canada has announced plans to increase the time would-be family doctors are required to train from two years to three.

Even if it's well-intentioned, the move has sparked opposition from experts and health ministers, who say we're in a crisis and desperately need new doctors. So just how rapidly is the problem escalating? What does the research tell us about the health of people with and without family doctors? Why raise the years required to become a family doctor now? And what could we do that would help encourage young students to choose this path?

GUEST: Dr. Cathy Risdon, family doctor and Chair of Family Medicine at McMaster University

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