The College of Family Physicians of Canada is being asked to “pause, hold and maybe stop” its plans to increase the time it takes to train a family doctor from two years to three — as some medical students, family doctors and provincial health ministers express their opposition.

“Our class, the class of 2027, is going to be the first that’s impacted by this change in residency length,” said Yash Verma, a first-year medical student at the University of Toronto.

“It feels like that’s something that’s out of our control and that we have no power to change at all.”

Verma said he first heard about the plan from CBC News in September. Alarmed, he asked his classmates for their thoughts.

He says he heard a recurring theme: “If this third year were to happen, they would not become family doctors.”

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    It wants the college to consider “the potential difficulties that a 36-month training program may pose for students, especially in the context of the current nationwide primary care crisis,” according to a statement.

    At a time when one in five Canadians don’t have a family doctor, provincial health ministers are also opposed to mandatory longer training.

    Health Minister Adrian Dix told reporters that he and his provincial counterparts “put it in the statement unanimously that residency requirements should stay at two years.”

    The college said it has consulted established family doctors, medical schools, students and residents, and studied programs in other countries.

    One calls on the college to “immediately cease the implementation of the third year in family practice program,” establish an independent review committee to present recommendations, then decide what to do, based on evidence.

    “I feel like we should have a say in this as well, and it’s really surprising to me that we don’t get to have that vote at all, especially residents and first year medical students,” Verma told him in a recent Zoom call.

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