[ejb999]

this is not a problem with just One Medical - it is a huge problem in primary care everywhere.

New doctors generally don't want to go into primary care anymore - it doesn't pay nearly as much as being a specialist does, and you are expected to be available to your patients 365 days a year, 24 hours a day (at least that is what many patients think).

It is a pretty miserable business to be in right now, and not sure what is going to make it better.

[TMWNN]

>this is not a problem with just One Medical - it is a huge problem in primary care everywhere.

>New doctors generally don't want to go into primary care anymore

An amazingly high portion of Canadians don't have a family doctor <https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/despite-more-doctors-many-cana...>. In Atlantic Canada (the four easternmost provinces) it is impossible, repeat impossible, to get a family doctor if you don't have one <https://web.archive.org/web/20190226051406/https://www.thete...>. It's one thing to have shortages in rural areas—that happens in the US too—but Halifax?!? I've heard the same occurs in Vancouver too.

[lr1970]

> In Atlantic Canada (the four easternmost provinces) it is impossible, repeat impossible, to get a family doctor if you don't have one ..[snip].. I've heard the same occurs in Vancouver too.

I am confused. Vancouver is on the West Coast of Canada while your statement is about "four eastermost provinces". Is it then a nation-wide problem?

[TMWNN]

I've seen news articles discussing the issue occurring in Atlantic Canada, and have been told that it is also an issue in Vancouver. I do not know about elsewhere.

[crazygringo]

> and you are expected to be available to your patients 365 days a year, 24 hours a day

Boy, I wish. I've never had a doctor with any kind of special availability. I can leave a message at their office but it's not like I'll get any kind of response until later the next business day, and that will just be from an assistant.

For 24/7 needs that's what urgent care is for, or the emergency room if it's more serious.

[ellisv]

I know a few doctors and they're not necessarily directly available to patients but have to be on-call for nurses, MAs, etc. It's not 24/7/365 but its more than I get pinged when I'm on-call.