September

Society gave our universities the exclusive authority to train doctors more than a century ago. We are now short of doctors and the shortage is getting worse. Why is this? The reasons are complex, and although government is ultimately responsible, being the source of funds, our university medical schools are also partly to blame.

The shortage of general internal medicine (GIM) specialists in Canada is becoming a national emergency.[1] Canadians are not getting the best possible standard of health care because our medical schools and health care planners have failed to recognize the crucial importance of general internal medicine. Subspecialty care has grown disproportionately and we are no longer training enough young physicians in this professionally rewarding specialty.

As a senior general surgeon I have watched over the years as surgery has been dissected into smaller and smaller subspecialties. When I was in training, there were only 9 main surgical divisions; now there are 19, and there would be more if the Royal College had not declared a moratorium on creating new subspecialties.

See counterpoint to this article

In his article, Mr Cherniak argues that compelling reasons exist why MRI should be considered for practically every personal injury claimant. He argues that MRI will, in every instance, benefit the claimant, lawyer, and doctor.

Prior to accepting Mr Cherniak’s position, there are important points to consider.