Doctor says 'sad story' of resident quitting medicine should inspire change

A family physician in Nova Scotia says he was shocked when a resident quit medicine because she couldn't transfer into family practice, and says it's time that the field looked at being flexible to help those in similar situations.

Dr. Timothy Matheson met Alison Fines when she was a student.

"She's an amazing clinician and would have been an amazing family physician here in Nova Scotia," he said."To me, it's a sad story for sure."

Matheson said it was a tough situation, pointing out that Dalhousie University couldn't give her a seat in family medicine that didn't exist.

He said no one person or group should be blamed for how Fines' story ended, but he thinks those involved can learn from it.

"I think that if we can look to other ways of supporting people through that journey it would be a good thing," he said. "It's not just lost opportunity for her, it's lost opportunity for the profession of medicine who lost an amazing clinician and it's lost opportunity for a community who would have had an amazing physician in their ranks."

Matheson said there were always vacant seats when he started his residency through Dalhousie a decade ago.

"The winds are changing," he said of the system. "But there's are a few lost souls we may never get back."

The Nova Scotia government said it's listening and making changes. It's opening 10 additional family residency spaces this year.

At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Health Minister Randy Delorey said what happened to Fines is happening across the country.

"If you look at the underlining root piece of it, the notion of attaching to residency seats, that's one that we've heard, that's why we've moved forward in increasing access," he said. "We took a lead in moving forward to expand the number of family practice residency seats in the province."

Matheson said given the significant doctor shortage in the province, academic centres need to talk about accommodating residents who want to make changes.

"I hope that people get a sense how arduous a process it is, and how big a commitment it is for people who undertake the study of medicine and taking on [a] residency program. It's not a small investment of time or money."