Silence of Francophone family physicians

Abstract

ike many of you, I attended Family Medicine Forum (FMF), held by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) from November 10 to 13, 2021. It is one of the most important gatherings of family physicians in the country, if not the largest. Every year, the conference is held in one of Canada's major cities. As Associate Scientific Editor of Canadian Family Physician, I have been attending for the past 20 years.Attended is perhaps too strong a word, as FMF was actually held virtually both this past year and in 2020 owing to the pandemic. That means that the entire conference-taking place over 4 days-was conducted over video. Like many, I am not a big fan of Zoom and other virtual meetings, but it allowed us to watch and rewatch all sessions included in the program. It was a good way to keep us up to date.But as the conference went on, a question kept nagging at me: How many sessions were held in French? I am obviously not referring to simultaneous interpretation, but to sessions originally presented in French.Note that, according to the latest available data, approximately 10 000 of Canada's 45 532 family physicians are Francophones, 1-3 which is almost 25%. In Quebec alone, there are 11 668 family physicians, 85.8%

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