Geography aside

A thank-you to Dr Vance for raising the important issue of the red tape around physician mobility in Canada in the February issue of Canadian Family Physician.¹ During my tenure as Chief of Staff at Moose Factory General Hospital (Ontario’s most remote hospital), I was equally frustrated in our efforts to hire Canadian locums to cover staff physicians on leave. Most rural communities suffer because of the unnecessary obstacles to locum mobility in Canada. This is not just a supply issue. On the supply side, there are many young physicians like Dr Vance who are eager to explore Canada by working in rural and remote communities. On the demand side, we only need to look at the numerous classified ads in Canadian medical journals to comprehend the need. Dr Vance has some excellent suggestions; I would like to put out 1 more: a national medical licence. Given our geography, it will require provincial administration (as is the case with the College of Family Physicians of Canada). However, a Canadian national licence would greatly improve locum mobility and rural patients’ access to health care, as well as give physicians a medical practice experience of a lifetime. It’s time.

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