The country's chronic shortage of&nbsp;family doctors has left millions of Canadians without primary care.

Our question this week:&nbsp;How hard is it to find a family doctor? Is the shortage affecting your health?

Plus, don't miss our Ask Me Anything segment,&nbsp;about the new COVID-19 vaccine for kids under five years old.

Fewer medical students are pursuing family practices, and these doctors are worried

Fewer medical school graduates are choosing to go into family medicine and open their own primary-care practices, data shows. It comes at a time when more than one million Ontarians can't find a family doctor and just as many are set to lose the ones they already have.

Dr. Rachelle Beanlands says she's excited about becoming a family doctor to build relationships with her patients. But she's also worried about the additional burdens that come with opening a practice — and based on the declining rates of young doctors choosing family medicine, she's not alone.

Dr. Rachelle Beanlands family medicine doctor shortage

Rural emergency rooms are bearing the brunt of health-care shortages, B.C. doctors warn

ER doctors warn that the pandemic highlighted, rather than created, persistent problems in B.C.'s health-care system — with ERs bearing the brunt of the breakdowns in other areas of the system.

A physician in full hospital scrubs looks over his shoulder at a coworker.

Infection prevention coaches regularly pass through the emergency room at Laval's Cité-de-la-Santé hospital to make sure staff are wearing their masks and protective gear properly. (Dave St-Amant/CBC)

A look inside the ER in Laval, one of the worst hit cities in Canada Image 2

Health-care workers warn that as more people leave the health-care sector, the problem only snowballs, exacerbating the workload for those that remain.

Family doctors deny they're causing Ontario's emergency room problems

Family doctors are pushing back against claims that they are partly responsible for the woes of hospital emergency rooms across Ontario by limiting patients' in-person appointments.

Dr. Liz Muggah is president of the Ontario College of Family Physicians. SHe practices as a family doctor at the at the Bruyère Family Health Team in Ottawa.   

Dr Liz Muggah

A sign seen at the hospital in Perth, Ont., earlier this month directs people to the emergency room in nearby Smiths Falls, Ont., instead.

Perth Hospital ER Closure

Ontario ER wait times hit record highs

New figures from May show patients in Ontario emergency rooms are waiting longer than ever to be seen by a doctor. Some are questioning whether family doctors need to be part of the solution by seeing more patients in person.

Join Ian Hanomansing on CBC Radio ONE and CBC News Network this Sunday.&nbsp;Call Checkup at 1-888-416-8333,&nbsp;

The country's chronic shortage of family doctors has left millions of Canadians without primary care. Our question this week: How hard is it to find a family doctor?

How hard is it to find a family doctor?

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