Doctors Today and Tomorrow - British Columbia Medical Association

2. The potential impact of an aging physician workforce should be examined from the broader
perspective of changing practice patterns, rather than from the narrow focus of retirement
numbers.
Physician resource planning should not focus solely on head counts, but should also consider the changing
practice patterns of aging physicians. If retirement is understood to mean complete cessation of medical
practice, it should be seen as the end point of a continuum of changes in medical practice as a physician ages.
Prior to full retirement, many other changes in medical practice can occur, such as a reduced workload and
a narrowed scope of practice, which have implications for medical care provision and physician workforce
planning. For instance, special populations such as rural residents may be significantly impacted because rural
GPs tend to have a broader scope of practice than their urban counterparts (Pong & Pitblado, 2005).
3. Concerted efforts are needed to retain and support physicians nearing retirement.
Physician workforce management policies have focused largely on increasing medical school enrolments,
expanding postgraduate programs, and recruiting. But there are limited concerted efforts in BC to retain older
physicians especially for those specialties where a majority are nearing retirement. The annual length of service
benefit in BC recognizes years of service, but may not necessarily encourage retention. Targeted financial
incentives and strategies that encourage other work opportunities beside full-time clinical practice need to
be made available in order to keep older physicians in the workforce and make best use of their expertise and
experience.
Doctors Today and Tomorrow – Retiring Physicians: Responding to an aging physician population 23