A board member with the Thompson Region Division of Family Practice says the province needs to do a whole lot more to help young doctors set up their own shop.
Dr. Chip Bantock says it is not cheap or easy to open and operate a private practice, something that freshly graduated doctors can find daunting.
“There has been nothing to support those new doctors entering into the workforce,” he said. “These young doctors are coming with $200,000 loans to pay off, and we’re asking them to cough up more money to open a business practice and run a business, without any good training about it.
Bantock says new doctors are not taking over existing practices, and are also shying away from starting their own.
He says the province needs to do more to support new doctors, noting as things stand, the family practice model is being eroded away.