Location decisions of family physicians in Saskatchewan: What really matters?

INTRODUCTION Residents of Saskatchewan, particularly those in rural communities, have less access to family physician services than people in other parts of the country. This is partly due to the difficulty of attracting and retaining physicians. The objective of this study was to understand the major factors that influence the location decisions of family physicians in Saskatchewan. METHODS We employed a mixed-methods approach, including a questionnaire survey of family physicians and interviews with individuals from stakeholder health agencies. We used interpretive description to analyze interview responses. RESULTS Neither family physicians nor interviewees from health agencies named compensation as the most influential factor in location decisions. More important factors were family influences, work-life balance and community influences. CONCLUSION We recommend that recruitment of family physicians be regarded as a matching process, in which family physicians and communities are strategically matched. Compensating incentives should be targeted at communities that cannot meet the requirements of family physicians.