Young doctors face 'medical purgatory,' order says

Forced work in regions wrong, Quebec told
AARON DERFEL, The Gazette

The Quebec College of Physicians criticized the provincial government yesterday for a permits policy that requires young doctors to start their careers in outlying regions.
Forcing doctors to start their careers in a specific region is a form of “medical purgatory” that does nothing to address the shortage of general practitioners and specialists in outlying areas, said Yves Lamontagne, president of the professional order.
Many doctors are working in an assigned region reluctantly, and they try to return to Montreal or their home city as quickly as possible, Lamontagne noted. Incentives are the best way to encourage doctors to work in outlying areas, he said. … An aide to Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard said, however, the government won’t back down on the policy, known in French as the “plans régionaux d’effectifs médicaux” or PREMs. More