Regional differences in where and how family medicine residents intend to practise: a cross-sectional survey analysis

Background: Family medicine residents choose among a range of practice options as they enter the physician workforce. We describe the demographic and personal characteristics of Canadian family medicine residents and examine differences in the intentions of residents from Ontario, Quebec, Western Canada and Atlantic Canada at the completion of their training, in terms of practice comprehensiveness, organizational model, clinical domains, practice settings and populations served.

Methods: We analyzed national survey data collected by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and 16 university-based family medicine residency programs. We tabulated bivariable descriptive results and used logistic regression to estimate odds of practice intentions across regions, adjusting for family medicine resident characteristics.

Results: Of 1680 respondents (61.5% of 2731 family medicine residents invited to participate), 66.3% (n = 1095) reported it was somewhat or highly likely they would commit to providing comprehensive care to the same group of patients within their first 3 years of practice. This percentage varied from 40.3% in Atlantic Canada to 85.1% in Ontario. In addition, 31.5% (n = 522) reported it was somewhat or highly likely they would focus only on specific clinical areas. Most respondents reported it was somewhat or highly likely that they would practise in a group physician practice (93.8%) or interprofessional team-based practice (88.1%), and only 7.7% expected to have a solo practice.

Interpretation: Intentions for comprehensive and focused practice varied, but over 80% of family medicine residents indicated they intended to practise in a team-based model in all regions. Policy-makers and workforce planners should consider the impact of family medicine residents’ intentions on policy objectives.