Family medicine in “burnout”

Mr Dubé,

I have worked as a family doctor in the public network for 7 years and at the beginning of 2024, I was in burnout.

Just like family medicine in Quebec.

I gradually became exhausted following the premature retirement of several of my colleagues from whom I accepted many elderly and vulnerable patients. Even though I was already responsible for more than 1000 patients, I wanted to prevent these seniors from finding themselves without a doctor. The additional workload, however, proved unsustainable. I became frustrated, impatient and discouraged, like many of my colleagues.

Overload

The risk factors of burnout are: work overload, pressure to work quickly, deterioration of working conditions, presence of harassment and lack of support. All apply to family medicine in Quebec.

We are overloaded: endless demand for care on the front line, perpetual lack of time, endless forms, etc. There is a shortage of 1000 to 1500 family doctors in Quebec. All this without mentioning the fact that our profession is regularly dragged through the mud publicly out of political calculation rather than out of concern for patient care. Since the Barrette era, these critics have caricatured the lazy, money-grubbing family doctor who plays golf all summer and neglects his patients. Nothing could be further from the truth.

These difficult conditions have harmful effects on the motivation of doctors and that of young graduates to choose our profession. In 2024, 70 training places and 100 family doctor positions have not been filled in clinics across the regions of Quebec.

The symptoms are clear, the diagnosis is made. The treatment plan now: Respect. Valuation. Communication. Human support and technological support.

Suggested solutions

Respect us. Stop imposing regulations and punishments on us through laws. We want to work with you to build a front-line model that facilitates access and quality of care to the population. Promote family medicine. Collaborate with our federation to make young graduates want to choose this vocation. Give us the information we need. I can know down to the minute how long it will take to have a package delivered, but I am not given any time to see a specialist or obtain an examination.

Give us human support. The doctor-nurse duo has proven itself, increase the number of nurses in our GMFs. I work with some excellent clinical nurses and want to thank them for their support over the past few months. The possibility of entrusting them with monitoring of chronic illnesses allowed me to keep my head above water.

Offer us technological support. Paperwork contributes to burnout, you’ve seen it. Thank you for your interventions to reduce it. Continue on this path and consider the new technologies that are flourishing in our province! Cloud solutions allow transcription and writing of medical notes assisted by artificial intelligence, an innovation that I have personally adopted. Such a tool, which helps me complete some of my paperwork, has allowed me to free up additional time in my day and helped me continue to care for the patients under my responsibility.

Imitating your habit during your visits: I send you my cell number. I will be happy to chat with you. It will be between two patients, because I am busy, I work hard and I am committed to an efficient, strong and respected first line of medicine.

Dr Samuel Gareau-Lajoie, Family doctor