Urgent action needed to fix emergency care, medical students say [Video]

British Columbia needs to bolster primary care in order to ease “chaotic” and “unsafe” conditions for doctors and patients in emergency rooms, according to a recent report by a group of University of British Columbia (UBC) medical students.

The doctors-to-be say they are questioning the future of medicine after interviewing emergency physicians across the province for the report they prepared as members of UBC Medicine’s provincial advocacy committee (PAC).

The report is the latest edition of an annual publication by the PAC exploring issues facing the B.C. health-care system, including toxic illicit drugs, homelessness and universal contraception access.

“As a medical student, it’s very interesting to witness how the emergency department works and how chaotic it can really be… where physicians who are trained to manage this type of care are now saying that it is too chaotic and congested and unsafe,” said report co-author Preet Gandhi, a third-year medical student at UBC. 

“That means it’s time for action now.”

Dr. …