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A Closer look at Ontario’s Northern and Southern Rural Physicians. Northern Health Research Conference June 4 & 5, 2010 Elizabeth Wenghofer, PhD Raymond W. Pong, PhD Patrick Timony , MA. Research Objective.
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A Closer look at Ontario’s Northern and Southern Rural Physicians Northern Health Research Conference June 4 & 5, 2010 Elizabeth Wenghofer, PhD Raymond W. Pong, PhD Patrick Timony, MA
Research Objective • Examine differences in physician populations between rural and urban regions of the northern and southern areas of the province
Study Design • Descriptive secondary data analysis • Data from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) 2007Annual Membership Renewal (98% response rate) • Ethical approval was granted by the Laurentian University Research Ethics Board.
Study Population • 22,688 Physicians • General practitioners • College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) • Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) • Primary practice address in Ontario • Active, independent practice
CPSO Annual Survey • Active practice • Practice Address(es) • Hospital appointments • Language of practice • Accepting new patients • Clinical activities (% of time) • Practice description (hours worked, number of patient visits) • Continuing medical education
Urban-Rural Definitions • Urban: • Located within a Statistics Canada defined CMA or CA. • Rural: • Strong MIZ: ≥30% of the employed labour force living in the CSD works in any CMA/CA urban core. • Moderate MIZ: ≥5%, but ≤30%, of the employed labour force living in the CSD works in any CMA/CA urban core. • Weak MIZ: > 0%, but < 5%, of the employed labour force living in the CSD works in any CMA/CA urban core. • No MIZ: includes all the CSDs that have a small employed labour force (< 40 people), as well as any CSD that has no commuters to a CMA/CA urban core (that is, none of the employed labour force living in the municipality works in any CMA/CA urban core).
Summary • Differences between NORTH & SOUTH • Differences also with increasing rurality • RURAL ≠ NORTHERN • South RURAL ≠ North RURAL
Next Steps • Accepting new patients into primary care practices Masters project to be completed in 2010 • Clinical practice activities by specialty scope of practice differences • Continuing education/professional development activities
Acknowledgements • Many thanks to the CPSO for providing access to their Annual Survey Data • Funding for this study was provided by the Laurentian University Research Fund
A Closer look at Ontario’s Northern and Southern Rural Physicians Northern Health Research Conference June 4 & 5, 2010 Elizabeth Wenghofer, PhD Raymond W. Pong, PhD Patrick Timony, MA