An alarming report published in the Canadian Journal of rural Medicine finds that one in seven rural physicians planned to move from their communities over the next two years.
For many, the reason they want to abandon their practice is the heavy workload and a lack of back up and peer support.
Doctor John Wootton is the President of the Society of Rural Physicians.
He says this is a growing problem in not only rural Ontario, but right across the country.
He warns unless something is done, this erosion of family physicians could have a serious impact on the health care provided to rural residents.
Doctor Wootton says the Federal and Provincial Governments must begin to implement measures that would increase the number of students from rural Canada attending medical schools.
He says medical students from rural areas are much more likely to enter into rural medical practice that would a student from an urban setting.
He says while there are a number of incentives being used to attract doctors to rural areas, not enough is being done to encourage them to remain there.
Doctor Wootton says that rural doctors might stay in their communities if they had more reasonable workloads and professional back up.
