title: Family medicine education in rural communities as a health service intervention supporting recruitment and retention of physicians: Advancing Rural Family Medicine: The Canadian Collaborative Taskforce.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a pan-Canadian rural education road map to advance the recruitment and retention of family physicians in rural, remote, and isolated regions of Canada in order to improve access and health care outcomes for these populations.
  Members of the task force were chosen from key stakeholder groups including educators, practitioners, the College of Family Physicians of Canada education committee chairs, deans, chairs of family medicine, experts in rural education, and key decision makers. The task force members were purposefully selected to represent a mix of key perspectives needed to ensure the work produced was rigorous and of high quality. Observers from the Canadian Medical Association and Health Canada's Council on Health Workforce, and representatives from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, were also invited to provide their perspectives and to encourage and coordinate multiorganization action.
  
  
  METHODS
  The task force commissioned a focused literature review of the peer-reviewed and gray literature to examine the status of rural medical education, training, and practice in relation to the health needs of rural and remote communities in Canada, and also completed an environmental scan.
  
  
  METHODS
  The environmental scan included interviews with more than 100 policy makers, government representatives, providers, educators, learners, and community leaders; 17 interviews with practising rural physicians; and 2 surveys administered to all 17 faculties of medicine. The gaps identified from the focused literature review and the results of the environmental scan will be used to develop the task force's recommendations for action, highlighting the role of key partners in implementation and needed action.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The work of the task force provides an opportunity to bring the various partners together in a coordinated way. By understanding who is responsible and the actions each stakeholder needs to take to make the recommendations a reality, the task force can lay the groundwork for developing a coordinated, comprehensive health human resource strategy that considers the integral role of medical education as a health system intervention.
authors.affiliation: Rural family physician in Golden, BC, Clinical Instructor at the University of British Columbia, President-Elect of Doctors of BC, and Past President of the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada.
authors.forename: Trina Larsen
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Soles
authors.affiliation: Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont, President of the North American Region for the World Organization of Family Doctors, and Past President of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. wilsonrw@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruth Wilson
authors.affiliation: Director of Education at the College of Family Physicians of Canada in Mississauga, Ont, and Full Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.|On behalf of Advancing Rural Family Medicine: The Canadian Collaborative Taskforce Au nom de Faire avancer la médecine familiale rurale : Groupe de travail collaboratif canadien.
authors.forename: Ivy F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Oandasan
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees; D002170:Canada; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education* / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000193:education*; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012424:Rural Population; D000078329:Workforce