Issues in planning for specialist physicians.
OBJECTIVE
The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation worked in support of a provincial Physician Resource Committee to address questions pertinent to assessing Manitoba's supply of specialist physicians.


METHODS
Because there was no direct method of determining whether the province's supply of specialists was adequate, three types of evidence were reviewed: the supply of specialists relative to recommended population/physician ratios; the supply of specialists relative to other Canadian provinces; and the level of care delivered by specialists in Manitoba relative to other provinces. Four additional questions were addressed: is a problem developing from the aging of Manitoba's specialist physicians? and will the supply of specialists be sufficient to keep up with the aging of the population? How well do specialists serve as a provincial resource? and how well do specialists serve high-need populations?
Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation, Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
N P
NP
Roos
R
R
Fransoo
B
B
Bogdanovic
D
D
Friesen
L
L
MacWilliam
D017677:Age Distribution; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005544:Forecasting; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006280:Health Workforce; D006801:Humans; D008350:Manitoba; D008511:Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011156:Population Density; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013038:Specialization; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends