Doctor numbers in Canada at all-time high

[pampango]

Between 1980 and 2010, the number of physicians in Canada increased by 87.1 per cent, finds the study, Supply Distribution and Migration of Canadian Physicians, 2010, released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

In 2010, there were 203 physicians per 100,000 Canadians versus 151 in 1980. Of the 69,699 active physicians in Canada in 2010, 35,366 were family medicine physicians and 34,333 were specialist physicians.

There has also been a surge in the number of medical graduates from both Canadian universities and foreign institutions. In 2010, 2,448 medical degrees were awarded — a 30 per cent increase from 2005, according to the report. The number of international medical school graduates grew 18 per cent, meaning that 2,500 physicians joined the supply of doctors in Canada. These numbers are expected to increase in the coming years.

As for gender, the breakdown is changing as well. The number of female doctors grew 3.9 per cent between 2009 and 2010 compared to 1.4 per cent of men. However, there are still more men than women —women currently account for 36.1 per cent of Canadian doctors. The report also found that more women become family doctors (41.3 per cent) versus 30.8 per cent of specialists.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/12/15/doctos-canada-report.html

[trumad]

1. Oh but socialized medicine is supposed to drive them away.

[bemildred]

7. I guess that was all horseshit. nt

[SpiralHawk]

9. Deliberate Republicon lies is more like it

Republicons have a long, sad, documented history of lying about health care -- and most other issues of importance to Americans...

[doc03]

2. OK how does that compare to the USA? I still hear people come here to

get medical care because you have to wait months for treatment.

[Mnemosyne]

3. I waited eight months for a neurologist, with insurance, right here in the US. Canadians that I

have spoken with feel very sorry for us.

Just from my experiences...

[RC]

4. And they do not understand why we put up with our medical system as we do.

[Mnemosyne]

5. The last group of Canadian women I spoke with were very concerned about anyone ill in the US.

One woman even got tears in her eyes while speaking about a friend in the US that had died from no access to medical care.

Very telling...

[RC]

6. My brother and his wife visited Winnipeg last July, had this to say about Canadians --

"Everywhere we went, calmness, politeness and civility reigned. Drivers stopped for pedestrians. Clerks took our American dollars with a smile (probably something to do with the exchange rate, no doubt) and the newspapers weren't filled with political hogwash. A veritable plethora of pleasantness."

At one time I was dating a Canadian living in Winnipeg and we would take turns commuting back and forth, so I have first hand knowledge of knowing this to be true.

[Mnemosyne]

12. How sad to have our country fall so low that we are pitied now. Some citizens receive humanitarian

aid from the devil (aka Chavez) here now.

I can almost imagine living in a country that actually cares for its citizens. Almost...

[etherealtruth]

8. Funny thing

We live in Metro Detroit and have been crossing the border into Canada to seek treatment for my son's degenerative eye disease.

As far as I can tell, the difference is (regarding wait times) ... if one doesn't have insurance one does not receive treatment in the US ... if one doesn't have money in Canada one waits for non-urgent treatment.

[snagglepuss]

13. It varies. Ontarians with urgent medical needs receive priority so wait times

are short. Elective surgery like hip replacements have longer wait times, however that is not simply becasue of the system but has to do with the number of specialists. A U of T med student told me that specialists are able to restrict numbers of students entering their field so as to ensure they have a large patient base. I live in Toronto, last month an ENT doctor wanted me to have an MRI to determine why I lost a lot of hearing in one ear. I waited three weeks for the MRI. I had the intial ENT appt within 2 days as I had a serious ear infection, had I not had an acute problem I may have waited a month for an appt with the ENT.


Three years ago my brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor, 2 days later he was in the hosital for the 6 hour surgery.

[hunter]

10. Ha ha! When we have our automated Wal-Mart medical clinics...

...remotely supervised by well-trained call center employees in India working for our insurance industry medical experts, those poor Canadians are going to have to meet with actual doctors when they're not feeling well.

EWWWWWW!!!!!!

[Spazito]

11. Sadly, this may not continue...

We now have a neocon, republican-clone, government whose fondest wish is to privatize healthcare in Canada so it will mirror that of the U.S. They have to do it incrementally because Canadians support the universal healthcare system so they are going to starve it, budget-wise, instead.

[etherealtruth]

14. That is a sad thought

The only ones that benefit from the US system is insurers