PROFILE OF CANADIAN PHYSICIANS - RESULTS OF THE 1990 PHYSICIAN RESOURCE QUESTIONNAIRE

Objective: To determine the supply, mix and distribution of physicians in Canada and to compare data with those of the 1982 and 1986 physici an surveys. Design: National census mail survey. Setting: Canada. Part icipants: All physicians licensed to practise medicine in Canada, excl uding interns and residents. A total of 52 422 questionnaires were mai led, of which 771 were ineligible. There were 38 313 valid responses ( response rate 74.2%). Main outcome measures: Activity status, workload , specialty certification, practice setting and demographic profiles. Main results: A total of 88.7% of the respondents were active physicia ns; 19.4% were women, compared with 16.8% in 1986. Physicians reported working on average 4.1 fewer hours per week in total activities than in 1986 and 5.7 fewer hours per week than in 1982. As was found in 198 2, about 50% of active physicians were certified specialists; 30% of s pecialists and 21% of general/family practitioners were 55 years of ag e or more. Approximately 11% of active physicians were in rural practi ce, as was reported in 1986. Similar proportions of foreign graduates and Canadian graduates were located in rural areas (10.9% and 11.4% re spectively). Conclusions: Factors such as aging and retirement will af fect specific specialty groups (e.g., general surgery and obstetrics/g ynecology) in the near future. Specialty groups must address the issue of the future supply of physicians and the demand for their services when developing targeted needs within their specialties. The increasin g proportion of women in medicine is changing the specialty mix and pr actice profiles of physicians as a whole. The issues associated with t he recruitment and retention of physicians in rural areas remain compl ex.