Canadian family physician Médecin de famille canadien
-
To provide a summary of the noteworthy medical articles published in 2023 that are relevant to family physicians. ⋯ Research published in 2023 yielded several high-quality articles with topics relevant to primary care, including cardiovascular care, irritable bowel syndrome, care of the elderly, and acne management.
-
To explore barriers and facilitators for family physicians in Saskatchewan prescribing opioid agonist therapy (OAT). ⋯ Despite the presence of several real and perceived barriers limiting OAT prescribing by Saskatchewan family physicians, there are family physicians interested in providing this therapy. Increased clinical resources and support, including increased interdisciplinary practice, are actionable steps that should be considered by policy decision makers to address this issue. Additionally, increased OUD and OAT education, which includes the perspectives of those with lived experience of OUD, would help address physician confidence, knowledge, and awareness in this area.
-
To explore perceptions of early-career family physicians on the personal, educational, organizational, community, and system factors that had influenced their scope-of-practice decisions and to compare the similarities and differences among these factors across all 13 Canadian jurisdictions. ⋯ Decisions about scope of practice by early-career family physicians are highly influenced by personal factors followed by organizational, educational, community, and system factors. These findings suggest numerous strategies are needed to increase individuals' interest in providing comprehensive care in Canada. Educators should cultivate interest in comprehensive care among learners, strategically recruit trainees, provide targeted exposure and experiences, ensure competence and confidence are evaluated throughout and at the end of training, and introduce formal mentorship programs. Policy-makers should invest in the spread of effective team models and alternative payment models. Together, these strategies could broaden the scopes of practice of family physicians and their capacity to deliver accessible and comprehensive care to Canadians.