I would echo Dr. Buchman's call for a national health human resources strategy.
What can happen is that Nova Scotia trains an emergency physician who suddenly finds himself up in southwestern Alberta. We need to get a handle, especially in the emergency department, on the number and types of providers that we need for the various practice locales, whether it be Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto or Sundre in Alberta. We need to start thinking about who is going to practise in our emergency departments and what level of training they are going to require. For sure, that's true.
Is the practice of medicine changing? Well, from a family practice perspective, this may be the dawn of a new era, as many family physicians learn to practise or try to practise medicine innovatively through the use of Skype, FaceTime, teleconferencing and video conferencing, so yes, it's time. The health care system is going to be under some level of siege over the coming years as our elderly population dramatically increases.
Yes, this is the time, and yes, there is a role for the federal government, in my view.