Pathologists leaving Quebec

Posted By: Laura Casella · 9/10/2012 8:19:00 AM

A report in the Journal de Montreal says there is a crisis in Quebec right now with a lack of pathologists. One by one, they are emptying hospitals, fed up with the working conditions. 

CJAD's medical expert Dr. Mitch Shulman says it is a major problem because their role is so important.

"You go in god forbid for a lump in your breast and you're waiting, you're asleep, it's the pathologist that tells the surgeon yes this is okay, you got the edges, or no you need to do this, or that it's not even a cancer." 

There are thousands of diagnostic tests on backlog right now. According to the report, it would take 40 additional pathologists to fill the void.

Pathologists says they are over-worked and underpaid and many of them are choosing to flock to Ontario or the U.S. 

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  1. ken posted on 09/10/2012 11:21 AM
    As long as while they are leaving quebec they express their concerns in french.....well then all will be ok....maybe some of the still striking students can fill their void , I mean heck, with free education they should be excited at the opportunity to get some good jobs.

    Calgon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!take me the F@#K away.....PLEASE!!!!!!
  2. B Ruff posted on 10/10/2012 06:19 PM
    There is an issue.

    1. Pathology is unpopular with medical students so they just don't go into it. The remaining open spots are partially filled with foreign docs which often sport suspect credentials.
    There are many reasons for pathology's unpopularity. underpaid given the importance of the work, stigma associated with pathologists being social rejects, lack of autonomy(lab employee vs independent physician), autopsy and laboratory aversion, misconceptions about the role of the field(they think its all dead bodies when its really cancer diagnosis), better opportunities for income, career advancement, and prestige in its sexier co-specialty, radiology.

    2. Quebec is filled with many bureaucratic inefficiencies that make practicing there a trying affair. Given that one must also know French to work in Quebec, and that Quebec is the lowest paid province for already generally underpaid pathologists, it severely limits interested parties.
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