Re: Where’s Marcus Welby when you need him?

BC Medical Journal ,Vol. 58, No. 4, May 2016, page(s) 184-185

Excerpt

Dr Nicolson’s eulogy for Marcus Welby[1] completely misses the mark when it comes to understanding the complex reasons behind the overwhelming changes in practice patterns of modern-day family physicians. For obvious reasons comprehensive primary care will always remain the cornerstone of medicine in small rural settings, and physicians’ professional societies and funders must continue to fully support rural family physicians by ensuring proper remuneration and practice support. Some of the ideas raised by Dr Nicolson may indeed help practitioners in such settings. However, for the 80% of Canadians who live in urban areas,[2] the model of comprehensive primary care has long gone the way of the dodo! Simply put, that model can no longer meet the needs of patients, physicians, and health care managers in a modern health system with unprecedented levels of complexity.