Hi - don't know if this site has been featured before - it was new to me today. Might be handy for new arrivals to Canada who are looking for a GP (though it covers UK too). Although these sites are only ever as good as people filling in honest assessments, both of our docs are in here, and we tend to agree with the comments made. So, you never know, it might give some indication of performance.

http://ratemds.com/social/

hey! great link!

Of course in much of Canada it doesnt really matter as you are hard pushed to find a GP taking patients, and if you do you would have to think long and hard about rejecting the offer based on internet reviews....

Having said that our original GP was so bad we disowned him and took our chances with the Urgent Care clinics until we were adopted by another much better GP.

Why is it so hard to get registered with a doctor - we had the same problem when we moved houses here (only about 10 miles apart) and we had to change doctors - all the ones I phoned were not taking patients - in the end I had to write to NHS for them to allocate one for us. Is there not a similar route in ca?

GPs are private contractors here. Sometimes there are centralised registers, but more often than not its a slog calling one office after another to get on the waiting lists, and in most cases they dont even have an open list anyway.

The basic reason is the same both sides of the pond...not enough GPs. Older GPs are retiring and no one is taking their place. Its not a glamorous choice for a medical student...old ladies bunions and piles dont have the same glamour or intellectual challenge as brain surgery, and the pay is not all that great to compensate for that. In canada there is the additional complication that they can earn a lot more practicing in the US, so traditionally there is a considerable brain drain going on.

Within Canada there is a tendency for GPs to chose the bigger cities ...more people = more patients = more money. There is no real problem getting a GP in Toronto for example, but in the rural areas its nigh on impossible. My local town (Belleville) has had considerable success recently in recruiting GPs at the medical student stage with cash advances to pay tuition, and a hard sell on the benefits of the local lifestyle and facilities. They have been quite successful and I think there are about half a dozen signed up now, but of course it will be a few years till they are qualified, and they wont be experienced practitioners, and there is a danger they might renege on the deal too later on I suppose... despite that we are still short about 10GPs as a region, and more of the current lot are approaching retirement...

It's quite frustrating really isn't it - maybe some of the people who have qualified in the UK and are chasing jobs on a 24-1 ratio may decide to cross the water and look for the work in CA.

Unfortunately the Canadian provincial medical associations effectively torpedo that hope by insisiting on additional exams and internships.... Frustrating is one word for it!

Know the feeling - back to school for me when I get there.

Good Luck... Come to Belleville eh

We were on the waiting list for over a year before we got a doctor......fortunately we hardly ever visit him! We were told by friends here that back in the late 80's/90's the government (Not sure whether federal or provincial) cut back on the number of medical student places in uni's because there were "too many". Result? Old doctors retire and there are no new ones to take their place.

I would only take another patients opinion of a doctor if it was related to communication, bedside manner, cleanliness.

All too often I have seen patients dismissing the more competent doctor in favour of the one who seemed to be more competent. In some cases the doctor was downright incompetent.

Unfortunately doctors in Canada do not have to publish their results, so there is no real way of quantifying their skills.

You made my day ladymoose! I have been able to add my previous dentist (UK) to the site. I almost lost several teeth due to his incompetence.

It's a useful site, but for every 'bad' report there does seem to be a good one.

I found the doctor who did my medical. I was unimpressed with his lack poor English - asking me to move the table when he meant chair, among other things.

Part way through the medical he whispered "What's your name?" Surprised, because he had my file on his lap, I said "Sorry?" I heard his question, I just couldn't believe it. It was obviously an unscientific hearing test.

The comment of someone else said he kept telling them to wait - it turned out he was asking their weight.