Physician Resources

• Population-to-family Physician Ratios, 1996 Map | Read about this map
• Population-to-physician Ratios, 1996 Map | Read about this map
• Population-to-specialist Ratios, 1996 Map | Read about this map

While that first question cannot be answered within the limited space available in the Atlas, the following related topics can be examined:

• Are physicians equitably distributed throughout the country?
• What are the current trends in the numbers of physicians?

Are physicians equitably distributed throughout the country?

A dot map, (Figure 1) can partially answer this question by showing where physicians are located:

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Figure 1. Physician Distribution, 1996

That illustration can then be compared with a dot map, (Figure 2) showing where Canadians live:

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Figure 2. Population Distribution, 1996

The two distributions are very similar but certainly not identical. Those familiar with the geography of Canada can easily see that as one moves further away from urban centres the number of physicians decreases much more rapidly than the general population.

While the comparison of these two maps is instructive, more detailed information is required to address the question posed earlier. Consequently, analysts and health care planners derive statistical measures to better reflect the linkages between the numbers of people and the numbers of physicians.

One of the most common measures is the population-to-physician ratio. This measure is attractive because it is relatively easy to compute (below). Such ratios enable analysts to make reasoned temporal and spatial comparisons. However, it can be misleading at times (refer to Population-to-Physician Ratios: A Critique).

For the Atlas, three different ratios have been computed:

• Population-to-Physician Ratio: the total population divided by the total number of physicians in a given geographical area at a particular point in time. For this ratio, physicians have not been differentiated in terms of their specialities.
• Population-to-Specialist Ratio: the total population divided by the total number of physician specialists in a given geographical area at a particular point in time.
• Population-to-Family Physician Ratio: the total population divided by the total number of family physicians in a given geographical area at a particular point in time. The term "family physician" includes physicians have specialize in family medicine as well as physicians known as general practitioners.

What are the current trends in the numbers of physicians?

In 1986 the population-to-physician ratio in Canada stood at 555:1. During the period from 1986 to 1996 the number of physicians increased by 20.5% while the general population of Canada increased by only 13.9%. A relatively dramatic improvement in this ratio resulted, particularly between 1986 to 1991, as the ratio decreased to 516:1 by 1991.

However, as Figure 3 illustrates, between about 1993 and 1997 the population-to-physician ratio began to climb again. Although the number has not yet returned to the ratio values of the mid-1980s (of the order of 550:1), during the 1990s that overall ratio has tended to fluctuate between 530:1 and 540:1.

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Figure 3. Population-to-physician Ratios, 1993 to 1997

That figure also shows a 1990s trend of some interest - an increase in the ratio with respect to family physicians and a decrease with respect to specialists. Traditionally in Canada, the number of family physicians has slightly exceeded the number of specialist physicians. Today, there is close to a 50:50 split between these two groups of doctors. As family physicians are viewed as the "gate keepers" to the health care system, decreases in their numbers may lead to a decrease in accessibility for the population at large. The population-to-family physician ratio dipped to approximately 1020:1 in the early 1990s but now exceeds 1060:1, approaching the 1075:1 ratio value of the mid-1980s. The converse of that pattern is occurring for specialist physicians with the current population-to-specialist physician ratio hovering around 1100:1.