Latest news with #familymedicine
Khaleej Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
New name and expanded services: NMC Royal Women's Hospital rebrands as NMC Royal Hospital Abu Dhabi to offer family-centred care
NMC Royal Women's Hospital Abu Dhabi, a long-standing leader in women's and children's health in the UAE, has officially rebranded to NMC Royal Hospital Abu Dhabi, reflecting its ongoing commitment to expanding access to comprehensive healthcare for the entire family. Building upon its extensive women's health services, the newly rebranded hospital now offers a dedicated paediatric clinic, family medicine, and internal medicine available to women, men, and children of all ages. As part of this expansion, the hospital has also extended its obstetrics and gynaecology hours and operates 24/7, ensuring round-the-clock access to expert, high-quality care. Dr. Zaka Ullah Khan, chief clinical officer of NMC Healthcare, said: "With our expanded services, we are now better equipped than ever to care for the entire family - from newborns to adults - all under one roof. This transformation preserves our specialised women's health services while extending integrated, high-quality, outpatient care to men and children at every stage of life, ensuring a seamless continuum of care within one trusted facility." NMC Royal Hospital Abu Dhabi remains dedicated to providing its full range of women's health services, including its advanced Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which provides highly specialised, expert care for premature and critically ill newborns. Its existing core specialties in obstetrics, gynaecology, fertility, and foetal medicine remain central to its offering, alongside in-house physiotherapy services that support patient recovery and rehabilitation. Since 2015, the hospital has set a benchmark in patient-centred care by combining cutting-edge medical services and technology with a warm, supportive, and healing environment. The 94-bed facility offers comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services, delivered by a multidisciplinary team of specialists in paediatrics, internal medicine, nutrition, plastic surgery, radiology, and more. To mark this important milestone, the hospital hosted a ceremony on 28 May, attended by medical staff, community members, and senior leadership from NMC Healthcare. The event celebrated the hospital's evolution and reaffirmed its commitment to providing integrated, world-class healthcare to families across the capital. David Hadley, CEO of NMC Healthcare, said: "The expansion of NMC Royal Hospital Abu Dhabi reflects our commitment to making high-quality, personalised care accessible to all communities in the UAE. More than just a name change, it marks our transformation into a fully integrated family healthcare facility. This is aligned with our mission to broaden access to essential health services through our growing network of hospitals and clinics across the UAE, and represents a deeper investment in ensuring that every individual, at every stage of life, receives the support they need to live healthier, fuller lives." For more information on the services at NMC Royal Hospital Abu Dhabi, please visit:
CTV News
28-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
‘Concerning:' New research reveals trend that may be contributing to family doctor shortage
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.
Medscape
23-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Inside the AAFP's New Effort to Boost Primary Care Training
Medscape Medical News spoke with Karen B. Mitchell, MD, vice president of Student & Resident Initiatives at the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), about the effort. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Karen B. Mitchell, MD Medscape Medical News: Some of these challenges have been apparent for many years. What problems are this new initiative attempting to address, and why is it imperative now? Mitchell: The challenge we're facing is that it's harder for applicants to go find the program that they really want. So, we are aiming to have applicants find programs that are the right programs for them, while having programs also be able to find those applicants who are really interested in them. In family medicine, because of the high number of residency programs, that has become even more challenging for applicants to find us. We want to reduce the barriers that applicants may be facing. We have the highest number of residency programs — over 800 — which also means increased challenges for the applicants to find the residency programs. Most programs have about seven slots, but some have as few as four. That is why we're looking at this now. Medscape Medical News: What has been the trend in the number of medical students looking to enter primary care? The shortage of primary care physicians would lead us to think the numbers are down. Is that the case for family medicine? Mitchell: It's not so much a decline. We were down this year in the main Match by 21 people — which when you're talking about 5000 matches, that's pretty stable. Meanwhile, the number of available positions in family medicine has grown. And that growth is happening in the locations we need for the future training of our primary care workforce. Medscape Medical News: The initiative stresses the importance of 'geographical distribution' of trainees in family medicine. Can you tell us a bit more about this goal — is it really a synonym for 'rural' or is the term more expansive? Mitchell: It is rural and more, in that what we aim for in family medicine is to be serving the communities across the country. We also know that our family medicine residents tend to stay in the areas and the settings where they do their training. And so, it becomes very important that family medicine residencies are designed to be based in the communities where we need the future workforce to be. So yes, it is rural, but we still would say there's community settings even in urban areas, where we also need more primary care physicians. Medscape Medical News: What is your approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion issues now? Are you finding fewer diverse students going into family medicine? Mitchell: We know that a diverse physician workforce that reflects the population results in better health outcomes. We are concerned about legislation that bans any race-based mandates in medical schools and accreditations, and anything that's cutting off federal funding in medical schools could have a detrimental effect on training. So, we are quite concerned about that and we are committed to protecting these programs because they are essential in correcting historical underrepresentation in medicine and important to improve health outcomes in underserved communities. Medscape Medical News: Some students go into medical school thinking they really do want to become a primary care physician or a family physician, and then somewhere along the way they change their mind. So, is the issue attracting people to begin with or keeping them on the track? Mitchell: It's both. Data from the Association of American Medical Colleges tell us that around 4% or 5% of medical students entering medical school say they want to do family medicine. Those matching into family medicine in the first round of the Match represent about 11% of the total US seniors and graduates, with about 8% coming from US medical schools specifically. By the end of Match week, family medicine fills about 13% of all residency positions available. The fact that we get a much higher percentage out of that by the time they graduate says we are gaining students along the way. What we also know from our data about factors that influence the students' choice about family medicine is that creating deep and early relationships makes a difference. Having mentorship and then having positive family medicine experiences, especially in their third year, their clerkship year, those are all things that make a difference in choosing family medicine. And the AAFP is committed to strengthening all of those factors. Part of the reason we're taking this broader look at the whole process is to be able to identify the bright spots where things are working. But we also recognize that, if you've seen one family medicine program, you've seen one family medicine program. They are so different, and that means what works really well for one program may not translate to work for other programs. We want to be able to identify where there may be an approach that really helped some programs that may be applicable to others. Medscape Medical News: How might the Trump administration's efforts to cut loan forgiveness programs affect family physicians in particular? Mitchell: The Public Service Loan Forgiveness [PSLF] program has been very important to our primary care physicians. We know AAFP members have enrolled in these student loan repayment programs and specifically in PSLF; 86% of our primary care workforce is enrolled in those kinds of programs. We very much support that kind of loan repayment. It becomes very important as an incentive to pursue primary care. AAFP also supports some of the other loan repayment programs, such as the National Health Service Corps, which are very important for addressing some of the issues with physicians choosing to practice in primary care. We also support the Resident Education Deferred Interest Act that was reintroduced earlier this year and allows medical students to defer their student loan interest during residency. Medscape Medical News: What's the timeline like for this effort? Mitchell: We are in the process of putting together a group of stakeholders from residency programs, including program directors and coordinators, advisors from medical schools, and learners themselves. We plan to have an in-person convening to bring together the ideas, and that's scheduled for this fall. What we're aiming for is that by the time we hit next year's Match day, in March of 2026, we have a good sense of where we're going for family medicine because we also know that any changes that we plan to implement will take at least another 1-2 years.
CBC
16-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Carleton North health clinic to take 800 patients off waitlist for primary care
Dr. Stuart Lockhart hopes provincial funding is next step in reinventing family medicine for rural New Brunswickers.
CBC
08-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Doctors are badly needed in Lambton County. This scholarship is trying to attract them
Social Sharing Jocelynn De Koning has always felt drawn toward family medicine. Not only does it allow for versatility, but it also provides a continuity of care, facilitating long-term relationships with patients in your community that can last years or even decades, she says. "There's no other specialty where you can follow someone from when they're born until they pass away," De Koning said. The mother of two plans to eventually start her own practice in Lambton County once she's done with her medical training, a region that, like the rest of Canada, struggles with an acute doctor shortage. In helping her meet that goal, De Koning, a second-year resident in family medicine at Central Lambton Family Health Team, was recently named one of five recipients of a scholarship aimed at bringing healthcare professionals to Sarnia and Lambton. Administered by the Sarnia Community Foundation (SCF), the Norma and Don Moore Memorial Scholarship began in 2017 with a $1 million donation from Don Moore, a resident of Oil Springs. Don Moore died in February 2022 at the age of 93, eight years after wife Norma at the age of 87. The scholarship supports doctors or nurse practitioners enrolled in a program that will lead to a licence to practice in Ontario, with preference given to those planning to practice in Lambton, SCF says on its website. What's being done now to fix Canada's family doctor crisis 2 months ago Duration 5:56 The first funds were handed out in 2018, and since then, nearly $250,000 has been disbursed, including $37,500 total to De Koning and the four other recipients — Jack Soeder, Melissa Chopcian, and married couple Jordan and Siobhan LeSarge. One person received $5,000, while De Koning and three others received $8,000, which she says she's using to pay down her line of credit. "It helps me, you know, have a little bit of less financial stress," she said. Tuition and fees for Ontario university MD programs can clock in at upwards of $26,000 per year. "Two of the students are doing really specialized neurologic medicine. I think it was Jordan said the work he's doing, there's only one of those doctors in Sarnia-Lambton," said Mike Barron, SCF's executive director. He notes the need for more doctors comes as the number of locals entering old age grows. Nearly 25 per cent of Lambton County residents were 65 or older as of 2021, above the provincial average of 18.5 per cent. The county's median age was about 46, compared to 41 for Ontario. "Whether it's being a family doctor to help the need in the community, or if it's a specialized (practice) that's going to help those (who) would probably have to leave our community … if they could have the service or procedure here in Sarnia, that would just make life better." At least 13 per cent of Ontarians didn't have access to a regular health care provider in 2023, Statistics Canada data shows. According to the Ontario College of Family Physicians, at least 2.5 million patients had no doctor in 2023, a figure they believe will rise to 4.4 million in 2026. On the eve of the provincial election, the Ford government announced $1.4 billion in new funding for an action plan to connect two million more people in Ontario with a primary care provider. Last month, the government issued a call for proposals for up to 80 new or expanded primary care teams to serve 300,000 patients. Doctor shortages are particularly acute in rural communities and in smaller cities. In Sarnia alone, the Ontario Medical Association estimates more than 10,000 patients had no regular primary care provider in 2022, compared to just over 8,200 in 2020. In smaller communities, not having a regular physician often means driving to another community to see a doctor, or potentially waiting hours in an emergency department, De Koning said. One study by the Ontario College of Family Physicians found 670,000 people in Ontario need to travel more than 50 km to see their family doctor. Separately, the college says family doctors report spending up to 19 hours a week doing paperwork instead of seeing patients. "I'm seeing a lot of older physicians, family physicians, that are telling me that they're burned out … Compensation has not met up to these increased demands, and people are tired," De Koning said. "It scares me a little bit hearing that from my preceptors and from my colleagues, but I'm hopeful things will change." She adds she would like to see more done to prepare family doctors for the business realities of running their own practice.
