Where have all the residents gone? Part 2: Renewing interest in family medicine (continued from June 2006)

Various factors have contributed to the recent decline in applications to family medicine residency pro-grams in Canada. The first article in this series1 described some of the reasons medical students are not choosing family medicine, such as perceived low prestige, heavy workloads, and breadth of knowledge required. It also explored this trend in the context of increasing finan-cial pressures involved in studying medicine. Perhaps 2006 will be a banner year for family medicine. Newly implemented strategies could well revive enthusiasm for family medicine despite deteriorating student interest in the discipline. The College of Family Physicians of Canada has already taken the initiative by creating scholarships and prizes for medical students showing strong interest in family medicine. The criteria for these awards must be augmented to include Canadians studying medicine abroad. These stu-dents number in the hundreds at medical schools in the United States, Europe, and Australia2,3; their repatriation should be encouraged. Furthermore, the awards should be partly contingent on beginning a residency in family medi-cine; anecdotal evidence suggests that a few award recipi-ents do not actually pursue careers in family medicine. The awareness campaign surrounding Family Doctor Week is another innovative idea that builds on Canadians ’ consider-able trust in their GPs. The Canadian Federation of Medica