Finding a family doctor can be challenging, as between 50,000 to 65,000 people in Newfoundland and Labrador are without one.

The President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association says the province is lagging behind when it comes to recruitment and retention.

Between 10 and 13 per cent of people in the province don’t have a family doctor, and NLMA president Dr. Charlene Fitzgerald says in their 10-year vision paper, they advocated for a real study and best practices to look at recruitment and retention.

She says the province does not yet have a good program to attract and keep graduates and family doctors here in the province. She says there is no targeted recruitment or retention for community-based family medicine, which is leading to a crisis.

Fitzgerald says it isn’t true that the Medical Association feels fewer doctors means a higher level of earning for physicians in this province. She says doctors are overwhelmed and over-worked.