"Industrious, submissive, and free of diseases": 156 years of physicians in Liidlii Kue/Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories.

INTRODUCTION

Physician recruitment to rural and remote communities poses a major challenge to health care delivery in Canada. Rather than focusing solely on the politics and policies that contribute to the shortage of family physicians in Canada's North, we argue that more attention should be paid to the reasons that lead, and have led, family physicians to the North, and also to the factors that contribute to physician retention.

METHODS

We used archival research and semi- and unstructured interviews to provide a history of medicine in Liidlii Kue/Fort Simpson, NWT, and to describe the features of physicians who have served and continue to serve this Northern community.

RESULTS

Results show that medicine in Liidlii Kue/Fort Simpson can be divided into 4 distinct eras: the prehospital era (1848-1916), the early hospital era (1917-1925), the middle era (1926-1972) and the government era (1973-present). Thirty-eight physicians were identified as having worked in Liidlii Kue/Fort Simpson. Of those, 19 were contacted. Nine physicians and the offspring of 1 deceased physician were interviewed. We found physicians fell into 1 of 4 categories: new graduates, those seeking midcareer (or midlife) change, those about to retire and international medical graduates.

CONCLUSION

By examining Liidlii Kue/Fort Simpson as a case study, this research fills the dearth of knowledge in the factors that contribute to physician recruitment and retention in Canada's North.