Responsibility and professionalism in family medicine

What has happened to responsibility and professionalism in family medicine? I am grateful to Dr Ladouceur for bringing up this question in his December editorial, “Where is family medicine heading?”¹

It is a question I have been asking for 26 years. In 1989, the town of Woodstock, Ont, (an ideal location for traditional GPs and FPs) was struggling to recruit traditional GPs and FPs. A survey of family medicine residents in Ontario at that time indicated that only 50% intended to be traditional GPs and FPs (telephone communication in 1990 with Dr Jacqueline McClaran, family medicine instructor at McGill University, and Dr Walter Rossiter, Chair of Family Medicine at Queen’s University).

To support Dr Ladouceur’s concerns, in the past 7 years the Woodstock hospital granted privileges to 24 emergency medicine GPs and FPs and to 18 hospitalist GPs and FPs, but to no traditional GPs or FPs. During those 7 years, 2 busy traditional GPs and FPs retired, leaving 4700 orphan patients. Fifteen years ago with Dr Bruce Halliday (Past President of the College of Family Physicians of Canada), I listened to Dr Ian McWhinney (the father of family medicine in Canada) share his concerns about the fragmentation of family medicine (office discussion in 2000).

Are we witnessing an erosion of responsibility and professionalism in family medicine?

In the December 2015 issue of the CMAJ, Dr Cindy Forbes (President of the Canadian Medical Association) announced that the Canadian Medical Association will have a new strategic plan to focus on “hugely important issues next year such as professionalism.”² The 1966 medical school graduates of Western University in London, Ont, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their graduation in 2016 by instituting an annual medical student prize for professionalism.

Family physicians need to recognize the obvious: that medical schools exist to meet the primary care health care needs of Canadians and not just the lifestyle goals of GPs and FPs.

• Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada