Now, I didn't so much post this to start an argument, (but it's here because it might cause one or escalate into one) as I did to ask a couple questions:
WHY did the provinces decide to cut enrollment of medical students 10 years ago, and
What effect is this having / will this have on Canada's vaunted socialized medicine program? (No value judgements as to whether SM is a good or bad idea, please.)
[ April 13, 2002, 10:51: Message edited by: First of Two ]
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
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Short answer: Budget cuts. Canada had a big national debt ten years ago. Down went the axe on both on the federal and provincial levels. Now it doesn't have one.
Now that we're in the black, getting money back into training more doctors has become a nasty proposition full of federal vs. provincial infighting.
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
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Like all good Canadian decisions we now have a commitee travelling the country asking everyone how to solve this and other problems in the Health care fields. Tom is right about the cost cutting affecting the amount of doctors trained. But we also have another problem with drs. in that the CMA (Canadian Medical Association) has also been artificially limiting the amount of drs. they put out, by limiting the schools which they will allow medicine to be taught at. The truth is a GP is nothing more than glorified technician and the only way drs. can keep their salaries up is to reduce the amount of drs. they put out. And now they have decided to put all of the blame on the shoulders of the provincial governments. The northern medical school mentioned in the article was initially opposed by the OMA(Ontario Medical Association)but they later relinquished because of public support. On a side note: Sault Area Hospitals is where I do most of my work as a X-ray service engineer for Philips Medical Systems.
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