Human Resources committee  This is something we see in different medical specialties. As technology evolves, it affects the needs we have in different specialties. In cardiology, for example, as technology and surgical procedures evolve, there's less demand for cardiac surgeons. We need to make long-term p

Human Resources committee  There are average amounts. Figures that I commonly see are $150,000 to $200,000 when they finish medical school. Then, when you go into residency, the salary is quite limited for the first two to five years, depending on the residency.

Human Resources committee  It's two years for a family practice and five to six years for some of the more specialized areas.

Human Resources committee  Yes, and I can share with you a document afterwards that looks at that. We've met with senior policy analysts with the Minister of Finance, and they've essentially said that this is like a rounding error in the federal budget and that it's almost negligible.

Human Resources committee  I'll take the first stab at it. We actually do have some studies that have been done. They're just done in points of time. For example, in Ontario there was a study in 2010 that looked at one year and made projections for upcoming years. This is happening only in Ontario. Howev

Human Resources committee  Exactly. Pretty much.

Human Resources committee  I have one thing to add to that. CIHI has actually released some data indicating that in recent years there has not been an increase in the number of physicians trained in Canada who are leaving the country. It appears that most are staying.

Human Resources committee  There are definitely a number of ways you can incentivize medical trainees to go into different professions. We have been focusing on that, because it is a new program the government announced in Budget 2011. They have indicated in Budget 2012 that they will continue to implement

Human Resources committee  If we have a national database that looks at what the heath care needs of Canadians are, not just for medical physicians but also for nurses, dietitians, and other allied health care providers, we can identify what the needs are in different specialties. We can then align our med

Human Resources committee  One of the more pressing problems we're seeing is that many specialists are unable to find work in their specific field. Essentially, we are reaching a point, as Noura indicated, where there soon will be enough doctors, but these doctors will not be aligned with the specialties i