Expanded medical training not likely to increase supply of FP care
Categories: Medical Family PracticeA study at the Manitoba Health Centre suggests that it will not. According to a study reported in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association in August:
* Family practicioners between 30 and 49 years of age (64% of the workforce) provided 20% fewer visits per year than their same-age peers did 10 years previously.
* Conversely, FPS 60 to 69 years of age (11% of the workforce) provided 33% more visits per year than the corresponding group a decade earlier.
On a per capita basis, the number of FPS declined by 5%, from 97 per 100,000 population in 1991/92 to 92 per 100 000 population in 2000/01, which paralleled changes in national estimates of FP supply.
Per capita visit rates among Winnipeg citizens (3.5 per year in 2000/01) and average work-loads among FPS (4,193 visits per year in 2000/01) were stable over the decade.
“Given these data, the perpetual focus of policy-makers and care providers on increasing numbers of FPS will not help in diagnosing or treating issues of supply, workloads and access to care,” the article states.