Across Canada many people are struggling to find a regular place for primary care and to access care where and when they need it. Policymakers are confronting the facts that after decades of reforms, primary care service volume is declining and primary care providers are reporting record levels of overwork exhaustion, despite there being more primary care physicians than ever before. To reconcile these observations narratives that doctors, and especially those early in practice, are making different choices and prioritizing work-life balance are common.

The Early Career Primary Care (ECPC) study is exploring changing practice patterns among family physicians, as well as practice intentions and choices among family medicine residents and early career physicians. This seminar will share findings that call into question common narratives about changing practice patterns and generational differences in primary care and point to the need for different approaches to ensure access to quality primary care in Canada.