More University of Calgary grads plan to be family doctors

Almost half of all University of Calgary medical graduates plan to go into family medicine tohelpease the crunch.

The school estimates 79of this years graduates plan to study family medicine, with 28 staying in Calgary for their residencies and the rest going across Canada.

What's important is that we develop a balance of types of doctors: approximately half as family doctors and half in other specialties, said Dr. David Keegan, deputy head of the family medicine department,in arelease.

• Doctor shortage plagues rural Alberta
• Number of family doctors steadily rising in Alberta
• Shadowing GPs exposes students to family medicine

Students are matched for their residencies through a Canadian program that allows them to select what they wish to do after graduation.

According to the University of Calgary, 46 per cent of students were matched to family medicinecompared to 19.4 per cent in 2008.

University officials credit initiatives launched over the last four years, such as having first-year students shadow family physicians and having family physicians teach classes.

Students are also encouraged to take part in specialty projects in family medicine such as research and developing learning resources.

Alberta currently has 398 vacancies for family and general practitioners, according to the Alberta Physicians Link website.

This trend towards family medicine reflects theUniversityofCalgary's focus over the last four years on increasing the number of familydoctorslocally.

"Albertans have long faced a shortage of familydoctors," said U of C president Elizabeth Cannon in a release.

"TheUniversityof Calgaryis proud to support the Faculty of Medicine's concentrated efforts to promote family medicine as a fulfilling career among the next generation of physicians and the demonstrated commitment to meeting the needs of our community."