Dr. Jeff Golisky Family Doctor Midland, Ontario (population 16,864)
Working in a smaller community like Midland, allows me to have a broad family medicine practice. Besides my own office practice, I am the Chief of Family Medicine, the Education Lead and provide patient care at Georgian Bay General Hospital, work regularly in its emergency department and teach University of Toronto family medicine residents and medical students. In Midland, we see many patients who vary in age, background, income, etc. We also serve a large Indigenous population from Beausoleil First Nation and Francophone population from Penetanguishene. There are many advantages to practicing in a smaller community. I care for a wide range of patients, including newborns, the elderly and everyone in between. Together with two other family doctors, my family medicine office in Midland has around 3,500 patients registered with us. We strive to offer timely booking and same-day appointments for urgent concerns. It is also rewarding to work in the emergency department at Georgian Bay General Hospital, providing critical care to life-threatening emergencies. One of the greatest challenges we face is accessing consultations with specialists. While we are grateful to have General Internal Medicine and General Surgical consultants locally, because of their limited numbers and significant on-call responsibilities, the wait times for non-urgent consultations can be lengthy. Patients are often hesitant to travel for consultation as well. Thankfully, telemedicine is beginning to improve access. 12 | Chapter 2
We have also been challenged by a change in family doctors’ interest in providing hospital coverage as several of our colleagues have recently stopped working at the hospital. I strongly believe, however, that in a community the size of Midland/Penetanguishene, family doctors need to have a central role in the hospital and I have encouraged all of our new recruits to be involved at the hospital. I am proud of the dedication to teaching that our community has demonstrated. We began by occasionally accepting medical students and have now evolved into a popular site for second-year family medicine residents and medical students at all levels. It’s my hope residents see the advantages and value of practicing medicine in a smaller community and decide to practice in communities where family doctors are really needed.