What can publicly funded schools teach us about how to fix the family doctor shortage?

Abstract

Recent estimates suggest that up to 22% of Canadians over 18 do not have regular access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner. This lack of access is often characterized as a “family doctor shortage” and has been making headlines for decades. However, we have more family doctors than ever before, and in fact, the lack of primary care access is less about a shortage of physicians and more a need to develop a modern infrastructure and new way of funding and organizing care. Real change will require a paradigm shift from doctor- to clinic-organized care. The example of how schools are organized for public education may hold answers about how to make that paradigm shift and with investment in infrastructure see improvements in access to care across the country.