‘Concerning:' New research reveals trend that may be contributing to family doctor shortage

CTV News

28-05-2025

A doctor wears a lab coat and stethoscope in an exam room at a health clinic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
New research has found that many family doctors are choosing to work in emergency departments or other areas of hospitals instead of practicing comprehensive family medicine, potentially exasperating Ontario's family doctor shortage.
The study published Tuesday in the Annals of Family Medicine looked at 30 years of data in Ontario, covering a period from 1993-1994 through 2021-2022.
It concluded that there was a substantial decrease in the number of comprehensive family doctors in the province on a per capita basis.
In fact over the study period, the data showed that while the number of family physicians increased from 104 to 118 per 100,000 people, the number of comprehensive family physicians decreased from 71 to 64 per 100,000 people.
The data further showed that of the 6,310 additional family doctors who entered the workforce over the study period, nearly 40 per cent were in focused practice.
Researchers have called this trend 'concerning'.
The study found that despite training more family doctors, the numbers do not add up to balance the need, the study's senior author Dr. Tara Kiran, a family physician and researcher at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto told CP24 on Wednesday.
'It's not enough to just train more family doctors,' Kiran said. 'We have to support them and ensure our systems and incentives are in place so that they preferentially choose family medicine in the community.'
Kiran added that building infrastructure, incentives and support systems within family medicine can help drive more physicians towards full-service family medicine instead of seeking employment in larger hospitals.
'We don't have enough family doctors, but we also have don't have enough doctors working in other parts of the system,' she said. 'And that's partly why family doctors are struggling.'
Around 2.5 million Ontarians are without a family doctor, according to data published by Ontario College of Family Physicians.
The findings show that the province needs to work harder to encourage family physicians to choose this specialty, the research says.
The Ford government recently revealed plans to set up to 80 new or extended team-based primary care facilities in marginalized neighbourhoods across Ontario in an attempt to get around 300,000 people off waitlists as a part of a $1.8 billion undertaking.
The government has vowed to combat the crisis by connecting every Ontarian with a family physician by the year 2029.
According to Ema Popovic, a spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones, this year's Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) saw 621 students match into family medicine – 113 more than 2022.
The spokesperson added that more doctors are choosing to practice family medicine in Ontario as the government's investments 'enhance digital tools to save primary care providers 95,000 hours and add new medical school seats.'
'We continue to break down barriers for family doctors to enter our workforce new programs such as the Learn and Stay Grant and Practice Ready Ontario that will add nearly 1,500 new family doctors with full rosters, practicing in rural and northern communities across the province,' Popovic said.
Although the authors of the research note that further study is needed to explain the trend, they say that physicians moving away from family medicine and toward specialized areas could be attributed to higher pay, better working conditions, more freedom and flexibility – during vacations and leaves and reduced responsibilities of running a small business.
Another notable concern is that family physicians are constantly occupied with paperwork, that takes hours out of their schedules, Kiran added.
The study found that the number of family doctors working in roles like emergency medicine or addiction medicine rose 'substantially' over a 30-year period between 1993 and 2021.