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More than 1,000 people lined up in the snow in Walkerton, Ont., on Wednesday to try to get a family doctor — but only the first 500 would be successful.
This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
A patient sounds slightly short of breath with a subtle decline in their strength.
The diagnosis? It could literally be anything, says Dr. Mike Allan, CEO of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Subtle changes, like a slight difference in a person’s behaviour, can be harder for doctors to sort out to direct patients to the right tests and treatments, compared with someone clearly clutching their chest, which can signal a heart attack.
Family physicians don’t focus on one specific area of care. Rather, they’re skilled …
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