Manitoba doctor numbers rise, but retention still a major issue

Doctors Manitoba is reporting a record number of new doctors in the province this year, but adds that it is difficult to keep physicians from leaving.

The doctors organization released its annual “Physicians in Manitoba” report on Thursday, showing that there was a net increase of 164 doctors this year, the largest on record. The success is largely being attributed to recruitment, the organization said.

“Manitoba is climbing out of a record physician shortage, thanks to strong recruitment efforts and record increases over the last two years,” said Dr. Nichelle Desilets, president of Doctors Manitoba. ​“We are digging out faster than we anticipated.”

Manitoba is still below the national average for doctors per capita, even after the last two years’ record-setting net increases in new physicians, the report shows. The per capita number of physicians in the province is now up to 225 per 100,000 residents, compared to the Canadian average of 241.

This year’s growth in physicians included 162 international graduates, 70 Manitoba graduates, 67 Canadian graduates and three from the United States. Those gains were offset by doctors leaving the province or retiring.

Doctors Manitoba said the province is not doing a good job of keeping doctors here.

The report said Manitoba ranks ninth among the 10 provinces when it comes to physician outmigration. There was a loss of 8.3 physicians per 1,000 to other provinces in 2024, according to data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Only New Brunswick ranked lower.

“This year’s research reinforces the need to focus on improving our efforts to retain the doctors we have,” said Desilets. “Manitoba loses more doctors to other provinces than we gain, and Manitoba appears to be retaining fewer local graduates, both flags that need to be addressed to avoid seeing our shortage grow again.”

Souris Mayor Duane Davison told the Sun that his community has attracted two recent recruits who were trained internationally. A community group in the area is working to retain them, and he said it is working well.

“We’ve been very lucky out here, we have,” Davison said. “And we’re in good shape right now.”

Souris has also had some physicians leave in recent years, but Davison said the community has managed to fill those spots with new doctors.

The way to retain new doctors and make them feel welcome can come in many forms. The mayor provided a few examples from his community.

“Invite them to community events, maybe take them and teach them to curl or see if they golf, or try get them involved with some community groups.”

Desilets highlighted the need for retention during a Zoom call with media n Thursday.

“I actually just yesterday was having a video conference with a physician from another country who was considering coming to Manitoba, and my colleague rightly asked straight out, ‘It’s one thing to recruit a physician, but what does your spouse need? What do your kids need?’” she said. “It’s a really important thing, and it is becoming more and more common among what potential candidates are asking when they’re looking for job opportunities in Manitoba.”

For those doctors who are already here, there are several reasons cited for low retention rates in the Doctors Manitoba report.

The most common reason given by respondents when asked why they planned to leave the province or reduce their work hours was being “frustrated by system issues,” representing about 48 per cent. Examples included feeling burned out, distressed and not valued.

Only one in five respondent doctors said they felt valued by the government.

Riverdale Mayor Heather Lamb told the Sun on Thursday that the local team of doctors in her community has been consistent for many years — since she moved there in 2017. She said the community is thankful to have that consistency.

“Ours is pretty stable,” Lamb said. “We’re pretty blessed to have what we have. We’ve been pretty fortunate in Riverdale.”

The mayor noted that the community may need more doctors as it grows — some patient lists are difficult to get on, she said.

Another concerning factor in the report relates to current medical students in the province.

Out of the 182 students who answered Doctors Manitoba’s survey, 60 per cent said they planned to stay in Manitoba after completing their education and residency, but the rest said they either were undecided or planned to leave when they graduated.

The full Doctors Manitoba report is available at doctorsmanitoba.ca/news-events/news. Data came from several sources, including a survey by the organization. To get a picture of data across the province, Doctors Manitoba extrapolated from survey respondents and calculated how it would apply to the full population of physicians in the province, said a spokesperson.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com