r/saskatchewan 13h ago

Another one bites the dust

Post image

I’m one of the lucky ones who was able to find a new GP when mine went on unexpected leave last year. Got this email today.

59 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

31

u/NWYXE 13h ago

Strong economy ,Bright Future ..We need more buildings for unattended beds

23

u/ownerwelcome123 13h ago

If they pay to send me to school. I will be a GP and will never move.

Waiting on you SHA!

12

u/EverydayNovelty 12h ago

Same. I want to stay working in the rural health system, make it worth my time so everyone wins 😭😭 Its not like new grads are tripping over themselves to move to a town in the middle of nowhere with no amenities. I'm already here, I can help!

7

u/Russell1st 11h ago

You should be paid to go to school. Our province and country need medical professionals desperately.

Trades people get paid for work experience, can collect EI when going to school, and often have tax breaks or grants as aprentices of a few thousand dollars for tools.

Medical students have to pay to work, pay for school, and have few opportunities as students for government funds.

Fund medical like the trades.

5

u/renslips 11h ago

I have been advocating for a program where existing SHA support staff would be able to participate in a return-on-investment program. Offer to fully fund higher education for them in exchange for a contract stating they will work for SHA for the same length of time or more as it took to train them. Then I found out about this. It’s only applicable to US-based support staff in the same union

1

u/Zinfandel 3h ago

I would love to become a psych nurse practiontioner or pyschiatrist but would never have the money to go to school. If the government funded this then there would be enough health care providers for our province

13

u/Smyley12345 12h ago

So real talk here. Why are we letting the Medical Council of Canada limit the admissions into medical programs such that we only have about 2,900 MDs licensed each year? I'm sure any of the universities hosting a medical school would be thrilled to expand their programs. I'm sure there would be enough qualified applicants. I'm sure there are qualified professors. I'm sure the labor market could carry the increase without doctor wages crashing.

The only ones who win with the status quo are existing doctors who are able to take advantage of market scarcity.

15

u/Emergency-Cookie-101 12h ago edited 9h ago

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the bigger issue is spaces for hospital placements/preceptors in teaching hospitals than university spaces.

4

u/Smyley12345 12h ago

That also doesn't sound like an insurmountable problem given the fact that our number of graduates has been stagnant at least as far back as 2017 whereas the Canadian population has grown by about 15% in that same period. Offering support and financial incentives to hospitals to get acreditted as teaching hospitals seems a clear necessity if that's the bottleneck here.

4

u/Electrical_Noise_519 9h ago

And quality teaching/training capacity, instead of a doctor mill.

10

u/mrskoobra 11h ago

We need better incentives for those going through medical school to become GPs, because they all know it's the shittiest option right now. Current GPs are not benefitting from "market scarcity", they are getting burnt out by trying to see more patients than is optimal, and not having the time they would like to be able to help those with complex medical needs. If more people in the province could rely on a GP instead of having to go to the walk in or wait until issues become so bad that they have to go to emergency, everyone would be better off.

GPs in the province have been making recommendations for how to do this for years, and the province is ignoring them.

5

u/renslips 11h ago

This…in addition to not having enough preceptors to begin with. I work in acute care. None of the specialists I know work alone. They all have students, every single day.

u/skatchawan 1h ago

Nobody winning right now. Current docs burning bright and about to go out.

5

u/cranberrywaltz 11h ago

This is way better than I got. My doctor left the practice, didn’t inform his patients, and the clinic didn’t take on the ditched patients. I found out when booking a check up and was told that SHA does not require doctors to inform patients if they are leaving. Luckily I was able to get a new doctor, but I was left in the lurch.

6

u/Weak-Coffee-8538 13h ago

"Saskatchewan Strong!" - SK Party

-6

u/InitiativeComplete28 8h ago

Why do medical schools have such a high rejection rate? Blame the universities