A study tracking the career paths of graduates from Canada's medical schools has determined that considerably fewer graduates of the Class of '94 (43%) chose careers in family medicine that their counterparts from the Class of '89 (58%). In the ongoing longitudinal study, conducted by the Canadian Post-MD Education Registry (CAPER) and the CMA, new data has been compared with results from earlier research (CMAJ 1998; 158[6]:723-8).
More than three-quarters (76%) of the 1994 graduates were in active practice in Canada by 2001, while 11% were in active practice abroad. Another 10% were still training in Canada and 1% were training abroad. The 2 classes had identical results concerning the proportion of physicians practising in Canada 7 years after graduation (76%), but fewer members of the Class '89 were practising abroad (8%). However, more of them were training abroad (3%).
Another notable difference is that a smaller proportion of the 1994 class took a break in training (4% vs. 13%) and fewer made career changes during training (9% vs. 18%). The study notes that full certification had become a licensure requirement nationally by 1994, so residents could no longer work as physicians before all the training and examinations required for certification had been completed. In 1989, a 1-year internship that did not require certification by the Royal College or College of Family Physicians of Canada was still available. — Lynda Buske, Associate Director of Research, CMA
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