June 29, 2022

As identified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC) recognizes the importance of training family physicians who practice comprehensive, socially accountable medicine to meet the needs of the peoples of this land. Canada’s rural and remote physicians are known for their generalist skills and already embody many of the key attributes that the CFPC hopes to instill in all of its residency graduates.

To accomplish this, the CFPC is proposing post-graduate family medicine education reform to meet the Residency Training Profile (RTP), developed through work that members of the SRPC participated in. The Outcomes of Training Project (OTP) includes a recommendation to increase the duration of family medicine training to three years from two years to meet the curriculum goals of the RTP. The SRPC is committed to collaborating with the CFPC and its OTP.

We have heard the concerns of members with respect to these changes. We too share concerns,  however we also see opportunities. As an organization whose mandate is to champion rural generalist medical care, we plan to use our expertise to enhance rural medical education, developing more robust, resilient, and broadly-skilled teams of practice for our communities.

Read the full Statement: SRPC Statement on the College of Family Physicians of Canada’s Outcomes of Training Report