Flood of physician retirements a concern for the CMQ

The number of retired doctors is growing rapidly, while approximately 20% of Quebecers still don't have access to a family doctor. In fact, 780 doctors aged 60 and over (386 general practitioners and 394 specialists) became inactive members of the Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ) in 2021, according to its latest data, obtained by ProfessionSanté.ca. This represents 3% of physicians in Quebec. By comparison, 615 of such physicians became inactive in 2020, and 400 in 2019. These 60-something members "have probably retired," the CMQ says, adding that there is no way yet to pinpoint why a doctor has become "inactive." According to the president of the College, Dr. Mauril Gaudreault, the pandemic has convinced several experienced doctors to leave the profession. “In one of our recent surveys, several doctors said they felt a lot of physical and mental fatigue. We can arguably say that the pandemic had a significant effect on their decision.” The sharp increase in retirements worries the College, especially since there is already a shortage of 1,000 family physicians in Quebec and most of those retiring take care of a large number of patients. “At 60, doctors have a well-established practice of 1,000, 1,500 or 2,000 patients. Thus, when they leave the profession, their patients become orphans. This is a problem that is of great concern to our organization,” said Dr. Gaudreault. Another worrying aspect: one physician in four is over 60 years old in Quebec, which represents approximately 5,600 physicians overall. At the rate at which doctors are retiring, the Ministry of Health's forecasts—5,800 retirements by 2031—risk being exceeded. An appeal to social responsibility Faced with the increase in the number of retired doctors, the College set up a project last year on access to a doctor and cessation of practice, in which the province's fédérations de médecins took part. The project focuses on three issues: better supporting physicians as they move towards retirement, determining how to continue patient follow-up and optimizing the contribution of other health professionals. “Often when a doctor stops practicing, his patients are not taken care of,” said Dr. Gaudreault, who takes the opportunity to appeal to the social responsibility of doctors. “The doctor is good at combining the ethics of individual responsibility between him and his patient. But it must also tend towards an ethic of responsibility between a group of doctors and the population they serve." Better communication between doctors If, in the coming months, the College wants to give tools to doctors so that they can better plan and organize their retirement, it also wants better communication between doctors to ensure otherwise orphaned patients get taken on. But how can they keep track of these patients when they are already overworked? One answer has been given many times, in particular in the parliamentary committee on Bill 11 last January: we must move to accept interdisciplinarity. “The family doctor should no longer be the only point of entry into the network. To improve the management of patients who lose their doctor, we must work with other health professionals,” said Dr. Gaudreault. He added that this path is vital as it's quite possible the number of family doctors and specialists in Quebec won't increase enough, or even decrease, compared to the current number—even if a few more than 900 students are welcomed in the faculties of medicine each year. Could we welcome more of them to universities to replace the doctors who hang up their lab coats? According to Dr. Gaudreault, it would be difficult: “The faculties are already at or near their maximum capacity." This article has been translated from its original French and was first published in our sister publication ProfessionSanté.ca.

Flood of physician retirements a concern for the CMQ

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