WiP Seminar: Dr. Rita McCracken

Rita K. McCracken, MD, PhD, CCFP(COE), FCFP
Scientist, CHÉOS
Assistant Professor, Dept of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Member, Therapeutics Initiative, UBC
Website: ritamccracken.ca
Twitter: @drritamc

Shaving the Yak: Understanding the family doctor “shortage” in British Columbia

Over a million people in B.C. do not have a family doctor. This affects the people seeking care, as well as the rest of the health system. Comprehensive, community-based, longitudinal primary care has been shown to improve population health outcomes and reduce overall health care costs. High-performing health systems around the world have made a shift to team-based primary care, where health care professionals work collaboratively to coordinate patient care. This has been shown to improve continuity of care, while creating an attractive work environment for family doctors and the other members of the team.

Despite the global shift to team-based primary care, the access issue in B.C. is almost invariably presented as a shortage of doctors. In fact, B.C. has one of the highest family doctor-to-population ratios in Canada; we have the doctors, but many are not working the way the system expects them to. Real fixes to the primary care access issue need a firm understanding of: How are family doctors actually working? Which work environments are most attractive to provide the “expected kind of work”? Where are doctors working now? What are the barriers to creating team-based primary care in B.C. (and other parts of Canada)? Dr. McCracken will share her perspectives and the work she and her national collaborators are doing to try and answer these questions.

This is a hybrid event, you may attend in person or virtually. Please register and indicate your preference. Click here to register (required): https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5EudOCvrzMjHN1WsqugQ2O6jEV3J04b4tN9