Media Releases and Opportunities

A new study by Dalhousie University researchers has found there is little difference in the way family physicians from different generations practise medicine, challenging the idea that early career doctors work less and care more about work-life balance than their older counterparts.

The study, published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found an overall drop in patient visits across all family physician age groups between 1997 and 2018. The average number of patient visits fell by about 25 per cent in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

The research team determined that the number of visits peaked for physicians with 27 to 29 years of practice, whereas doctors earlier in practice or at the end of their careers had fewer patient visits. This pattern has always existed and the researchers found no great change over time among early career doctors.

This study helps explain why access to primary care is challenging in all parts of the country, even though there are more family doctors than ever before.

Dr. Ruth Lavergne, an associate professor in Dalhousie's Department of Family Medicine and a Canada Research Chair in Primary Care, co-authored the study which found that despite there being fewer patient visits, the population is aging, care is more complex and the time spent on care co-ordination and administration is increasing.

Dr. Lavergne and Dr. Katherine Stringer, the head of Dalhousie's Department of Family Medicine, are available to discuss both the research and perceptions of the way family medicine is practised.

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Media contact:

Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Communications, Marketing and Creative Services
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca