As a family medicine resident training in a community hospital, I watch as operating rooms repeatedly scramble to remain open on weekends because of a lack of surgical assistants. This means even greater backlogs in our already crowded emergency room and more patients waiting longer for care. Meanwhile, a plentiful supply of second-year family medicine residents, who provide essentially the same services during core surgery rotations, watch powerless to help. This situation is all too familiar to family practice residents training in more rural sites.
It makes little sense to me why family medicine programs are not participating in the pilot program currently running in Ontario when shortages in primary care are at their most acute. My colleagues and I would be more than willing to give up an occasional weekend to work alongside the preceptors with whom we are already so familiar. Not only would this help to prepare us for our future careers, it would partially offset the financial burden created by years of soaring medical tuition.
As Dr Verma mentions in her article, restricted registration already exists in many forms across the country.1 There are limitations in place to ensure that the academic rigour of training is not compromised, and in fact, this work often adds to a resident’s learning experience. And although Dr Meterissian mentions the alternative of networking at meetings as a way to find attractive jobs,2 nothing compares to walking a day in the shoes you one day hope to fill.
I respectfully disagree with Drs Orkin and Kerr that this issue is “virtually inapplicable” to family medicine residents. While these concerns about the lengthy application process are valid, this will only change by putting pressure on the licensing bodies to make the process more streamlined and efficient. I believe that although family medicine residents have only a comparatively short time to participate, our contributions could be valuable in a system in dire need of primary care resources.
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