They chose family medicine as their only choice of residency, because they were attracted by the versatility of this specialty. The Canadian Press spoke with medical students who opened up about the thoughts that went through them when the time came to make their choice of residency, while the standoff between doctors and the government was in full swing.
This cast a shadow over family medicine, and many students doubted going in this direction.
The results of the first round of matching from the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) showed that 146 family medicine resident positions remained vacant in Quebec. In the rest of Canada, there were 105 unfilled positions in family medicine.
The number of vacant positions after the second round of matching will be published on April 21.
“Young people are already very hesitant about knowing what career they are going to do in the future,” recalls Félicia Harvey, a medical student at the University of Montreal. So, it’s certain that if there are events like that which add pressure and uncertainty, well that pays the price and that’s a bit of what we’re seeing with this year’s twinning.”
Students had until the end of November to make their choice of residence. Former Minister of Health Christian Dubé had adopted the controversial law 2 under gag order a month earlier, which aimed to review the method of remuneration of doctors.
Questioning
Rosalie Kègle, who is completing her externship at the University of Sherbrooke, agrees. The political context at that time created uncertainty. “I think the government has put the blame on family doctors for a lot of problems over which they are powerless. Of course I asked myself if I really wanted to get into this,” she confides on the phone.
She wondered if ultimately she wouldn’t be better off in another specialty. “But in the end, I told myself that I was going to concentrate on what I love. The rest, the political context, the health system, we will see as we go along. I will try not to let that influence me,” she says.
“Unfortunately, not everyone thought like me. […] I personally know people who thought of going into family medicine and who decided to go into other specialties, and that is also very correct. This is very valid. I totally understand them, I was there too in this reflection. »
Alexandre Rivard, who is studying medicine at the University of Montreal, was also attracted by “the richness of all the care” that a general practitioner can provide. He is in a special situation, because he previously completed a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
The implication in political discourse that doctors aren’t doing enough has led him to reflect on his future. “It made me question a lot whether I’m doing my practice in Quebec or not or even, to be quite honest, I even asked myself the question: ‘should I go back to mechanical engineering?’
Mr. Rivard remembered why he chose to change to medicine. Contact with people and being able to help communities kept him on this path.
Attraction for the region
Even if everyone agrees that it was a trying fall, for some students, the tension between the federations and the government did not lead them to question their future. This is the case of Étienne Turcotte, who was exposed to family medicine from his first year at Laval University. He had completed an internship in Escoumins under the Sarros program (Support for regions for the recruitment of general practitioners and specialists).
Originally from the North Shore, he was immediately attracted by medicine in the region. He is not the only one. The enthusiasm for learning medicine outside major centers is felt in several faculties. At Laval University, for example, the 57 places in the longitudinal integrated clerkship (ELI) have already been filled for 2026-2027.
“It’s certain that it was a fairly tense period politically, there were big discussions on the political scale across Quebec,” said Mr. Turcotte. But personally, it even motivated me even more […] to go into family medicine and lend a hand to people in the field.”
The fact of having been in contact with many family doctors during his first year of externship solidified his choice. “Not to specialize in something, but to remain more generalist, I find that very interesting,” says Mr. Turcotte. The perspective of creating bonds that will be lasting over time with patients for many years, of seeing them grow, of helping them in their lives, of seeing them have children, of following their children.”
Félicia Harvey did not question herself either. “For me, it didn’t really have an impact because my thinking is that we shouldn’t choose our life job based on the current political climate, because I sincerely think that things will change,” says the student.
She recognizes, however, that in recent years, and particularly in the fall, the climate has been “very harmful for family medicine.”
Ms. Harvey, who is also vice-president of the Quebec Medical Student Federation (FMEQ), has seen colleagues who were considering doing their residency in family medicine and who changed their minds. “There were some who thought it seemed simpler. There are also some who find it very affecting to hear a negative message about their work, when they have the impression that they are working hard, that they are doing everything they can for their patients,” she reports.
Ms. Harvey is optimistic for the future. “I think there will continue to be more critical moments like that for medicine because of the negotiations, the reforms and all that, but at the end of the day, we have to go with what interests us, and kind of ignore this political climate,” she concludes.
