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Wanted: A family doctor accepting new patients!

By Edar 'Cinnikull' Aihil

canada healthcare If you ever require a referral to a specialist, you first need to have a family doctor who could refer you to one. Fair enough.

However, I had no idea that getting yourself a family physician in Toronto, Ontario would be a task next to impossible – no, I think I’m being impolite here. Let me rephrase: it is impossible for someone new to get a family doctor here.

In fact, the term “Family Doctor” is a misnomer for those who are a ‘family of one’ and are newcomers to Canada in the first place. True, most newcomers do have some family connections here but those may not have a doctor accepting new patients to begin with, or enough “Canadian Ties” for referrals. I could go on… but that’s the not the point of this rant.

The only viable option is to get a list of hundreds of doctors and walk-in clinics and then start calling every single one of them and/or visiting every single one of them in hopes of hitting a freak lucky break and getting a doctor who is accepting new patients. I am being repetitive here, but that helps establishing the point further.

I did some research on family physicians and doctors accepting new patients. As I’ve learnt, the first stop should be the out-of-date website operated by The College of Physicians and Surgeons Ontario and trying to find a doctor who’s accepting new patients. It’s a cruel joke than any useful service, really. Whatever results the site throws at you (if any), when you end up calling those, you find their waiting list already filled up months and months in advance. So much for Canadian health care.

For newbies like me, here are some resources to find (with any luck) a new family doctor in the Greater Toronto Area. If anyone knows of any new doctors accepting new patients, please use this space to inform us newbies! Any information will be greatly appreciated!