Jessica Klinkenberg
Northern News Services
Monday, February 12, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Keeping doctors in smaller communities is a challenge for the Territory according to the Canadian Medical Association's president.

Dr. Colin McMillan was in town last week to attend the NWT branch of the Canadian Medical Association's (CMA) annual general meeting.

He listened to concerns that were raised by territorial doctors, and offered some insights into some of the challenges that the territory faces.

"The CMA has lots of resources so they can better advocate for us," said Dr. Kami Kandola, president of the NWT Medical Association.

McMillan said that the CMA is aware of the issues that the territory is facing, and that they're the same problems the rest of Canada is facing.

"The progress is uneven, especially in certain areas," he said of work being done to address doctor and nurse shortages, as well as wait times.

"Among the doctors polled, 60 per cent felt that not enough is being done," he said of a study the CMA did last year among doctors.

"It's good to be able to let the doctors know that they're not alone in what they face. You don't live alone with the problems you've had," McMillan said.

But living alone is a problem in the North. With communities across the territory dependent on visiting nurses and doctors that come on a rotating basis, some communities lack the benefit of having a regular physician.

"A lot of them are doing locums to figure out where they want to go," McMillan said.

McMillan said that human resource planning has to be done in communities, as incentives in pay and benefits aren't what will keep a doctor.

"Studies do show the sort of incentives you use...are good to get the (doctors) there."

McMillan said that after that it depends on whether a doctor feels accepted in the community and fits in, as well as other personal factors.

This comes from a study that was done by the CMA, McMillan said.

He said solution isn't an easy thing to find, however. "Often this means taking the studies and going on the road with them," he said.

Kandola said that the problem is in communities with less than 3,000 people.

"One of our biggest concerns is that we're still looking for primary (physicians)," she said.

Kandola said the larger communities in the territory have a stable workforce for health care, such as Inuvik and Hay River.

But it's smaller communities that have a problem.

"Physicians up here are relatively more isolated," she said.

But the North does have one advantage over the south where physicians are concerned. "We're pretty fortunate that a lot of our physician workforce is pretty young. It seems the Northwest Territories has a different workforce than down south," she said.

The work in the North can also be very rewarding, Kandola said.