more health specialists not the answer to health system woesby ben chanit’s time to rethink...

8/12/2019 More health specialists not the answer to health system woesBy Ben ChanIt’s time to rethink medical education in Canada

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8/12/2019 More health specialists not the answer to health system woesBy Ben ChanIt’s time to rethink medical education in Canada

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/more-health-specialists-not-the-answer-to-health-system-woesby-ben-chanits 2/2

Clearly, our medical education system needs to tackle some tough questions if it is to do a better job of serving thepublic. Will we continue to do most specialty training in urban centres, or will there be the political will to dramaticallyshift training to smaller, underserviced communities? (Most studies show that doctors tend to practice close to wherethey were trained.)

Could we shorten residency training, by focusing more on demonstrated skills rather than time spent in the program?Do we still need rigid boundaries between specialties, or could more procedures be shared by different specialties,family doctors or other professionals, to increase flexibility to meet local needs? Will formal residency-style training

continue to be something done mostly in one’s early years, or rather something done in short stints several timesthroughout one’s career?

Lastly, and most importantly, are our medical educators prepared to submit to a national strategy for managing healthhuman resources? It’s clear we need one.

These solutions are tough to implement, because some training programs will need to “give up” something theyalready have — students, funding, autonomy, or “clinical turf” — while other programs gain as a result. Governmentsand the medical establishment will need to work together and set aside vested interests to maximize the public good.It’s not an impossible task, but an essential one, necessary for the health of Canadians.

Dr. Ben Chan is an advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. He practices family medicine part-time in remote communities in Northern Ontario. From 2003 to 2012, he was the CEOof the Health Quality Councils of Saskatchewan and Ontario, each responsible for monitoring quality at a provincial level.