Anuja Varghese, 28, grew up in Kingston, where she had a female family physician (who is now retired) whom she saw throughout high school. When she moved to Montreal to attend McGill University, she relied on the school’s health-care clinics. She’s spent her several years in Toronto working for film non-profits, relying on free clinics and the Bay Centre For Birth Control for contraception and check-ups as needed. However, she hasn’t had a regular doctor since she was a teenager.

As older physicians retire and new residents come to the city, some Torontonians find themselves without a family doctor. Young people in their teens and 20s can be caught in the middle—they don’t necessarily need an OB/GYN but they’re too old for a pediatrician, and they don’t have a specialist managing chronic conditions. They’re also increasingly mobile and could find themselves in a city where they don’t have family or friend connections they can use to find a physician. This means they rely on a patchwork of free clinics and emergency-room doctors, lacking the consistency of care that could help diagnose medical problems early on.

Ontario isn’t the only province with a shortage of family doctors, but the Ontario Medical Association estimates that 1.2 million people in this province don’t have a regular physician. The province licensed a record 3,708 doctors last year—the higher number ever, and part of a steady rise that has continued since the late 90s—and in 2009 174 more doctors came to Ontario than left. But some parts of the province, such as the north, have a greater need for those new physicians than Toronto. Foreign-trained doctors still have some trouble finding residency spots, and there are estimates that the province still needs another 1,000 to 2,000 family physicians to meet demand.

“It’s a problem for all age groups, clearly,” said Dr. Jim Ruderman, chief of medical staff at the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. “One of the issues with younger people is that they don’t tend to have chronic illnesses.” That doesn’t mean, however, that they don’t need regular tests like Pap smears or STD screening, Ruderman pointed out; he worries that when young people lack a regular doctor, they miss out on or delay those valuable health checks.

“These are the kinds of things that a regular family doctor can help them with,” he said.

With about one-fifth of the population experiencing a psychological disorder at some point, mental health care is another concern for young people, Ruderman said. Many illnesses, particularly depression, are first caught or treated by a regular physician, and family doctors can refer a patient to the appropriate specialist.

Finding a doctor is also important if you’re thinking of having a baby. Though many family physicians provide obstetrics care, or can refer a patient to another doctor in their practice who does, it’s important to find a doctor before you or your partner is pregnant, Ruderman said. Prenatal counselling is important, especially to ensure that the mother is getting proper nutrition, and some couples may be candidates for genetic screening.

Ontario may have added more doctors this year than in any other before, but Toronto and Ontario’s shortages have been ongoing for years. Five years ago, only about 20 percent of doctors in Toronto were taking new patients. In 2008, the shortage for Ontario was estimated at 1.1 million people without a regular physician. The provincial shortage was estimated by MPP Deb Matthews to be about 1000 to 2000 doctors.

The routine care she’s received at the Bay Centre clinic has been good, Varghese said, but she sees a different doctor each time, which means time is spent in each appointment going over her medical history and her reasons for the visit. Switching prescriptions or getting new ones complicates the process further.

"They're trying to help, but even when you go to walk-ins or the hospital, they're totally overworked,” she said. “There's way too many people there for them to see anyone thoroughly."

Ruderman said that clinics are a good option when you need to see a physician quickly, or before finding a doctor of your own, but shouldn’t be a long-term solution—it’s important to find a doctor who can become familiar with your medical history, he advised. “You can’t just give up on it and keep going to walk-in clinics,” he said.

The staff at the clinic told her at each appointment that she should get a family doctor, Varghese said, and gave her a list of doctors who were supposed to be accepting patients.

"I called some off the list they gave me and none of them were actually taking patients," Varghese said. “I would like a female doctor, which might make it harder." Because she doesn’t have a condition that creates an urgent need for a regular doctor, she’d prefer to wait until a female is available, but acknowledged that if she were ill she may have to change that preference out of necessity.

A few months ago, Varghese registered with the Ministry of Health to request assignment to a family doctor after seeing a banner ad on Facebook promoting the service. She received a notice quickly, but unfortunately it was for the wrong city: her health card still listed Kingston as her city of residence, and a doctor had been found for her there.

She corrected the address and is still waiting. “I have not heard anything since.” The only guidance she received, she said, is that the ministry will get in touch when they’ve found a physician for her. She doesn’t have any indication of when that
will be.

Ruderman recommended that people looking for a family doctor be persistent. Make the search a priority, he said, and keep at it until you’ve found someone. Ask friends and family for recommendations and see if their doctors are accepting new patients. And the summer could be a good time to search, he suggested. New doctors graduate each year on June 30.

If you’re looking for a family doctor, try Health Care Connect. You have to have Ontario ID and a mailing address in the province. However, the service offers no guarantee of when a doctor will be ready for you. Try DoctorSearch to find contact information for physicians near you.