A new report says more than 10 per cent of doctors who graduated from a Canadian medical school but then moved to the United States would seriously consider returning to Canada to practise.

The Canadian Medical Association survey showed that 13 per cent of respondents would be "likely'' or "very likely'' to return home.

The association representing most of Canada's doctors mailed the survey in April to 5,156 Canadian-trained physicians under age 55 who now live and work south of the border.

Almost 60 per cent of those who responded left Canada during the 1990s, when funding cuts had a major impact on health-care services and physician morale. The CMA estimates that Canada lost 4,014 more physicians to the U.S. than it gained between 1991 and 2004.

The response rate to the survey was 32 per cent. More than half of respondents (54 per cent) practised in Canada before leaving for the U.S. and specialists (71 per cent) greatly outnumbered family physicians (24 per cent).

Respondents cited four main reasons for leaving Canada:

  • salary (52 per cent),
  • availability of medical facilities and services (51 per cent),
  • availability of positions (45.2 per cent)
  • and clinical autonomy (37.9 per cent)

When asked about what incentives might entice them to return to Canada, respondents cited similar motivations:

  • better remuneration
  • better practice opportunities,
  • proximity to family
  • workplace flexibility.

The survey was undertaken to examine Canada's ongoing MD shortage.

"We are now trying to determine how we can focus our recruitment efforts on physicians who used to practise in Canada," said then-CMA President Colin McMillan in a letter accompanying the survey that was sent to doctors.

A sample of responses included such comments as: "I am at a crossroads in my life-career and investigating the reality of returning to Canada is appealing. I would like to come home.''

Another said: "You don't know what you've got till it's gone.''

However, there were other physicians who do not favour returning to Canada: "As a general surgeon, I would prefer to live in Canada but I got tired of working in a resource-poor system with constant cutbacks and little O.R. time,'' said one.

And from another respondent: "I love being Canadian and would love to live in Canada, but the remuneration and system constraints make it less attractive than my current U.S. practice.''

Over half of the survey respondents expressed an interest in being contacted about possible career opportunities in Canada. But the report concluded: "realistically these opportunities will have to be enticing with respect to income, location, academic appointments and specialty.''

McMillan said that in recent years, the southward flow of physicians has reversed, with Canada enjoying a net gain of 55 physicians from the U.S. in 2004 and 61 in 2005.