Surgical care in rural Canada: training and planning for the future

The survey results reported by Chiasson and Roy in this issue (see pages 1447 to 1452) document a growing problem with the provision of surgical services in rural western Canada. Recognizing the need to improve access to surgical services in rural communities, the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada have proposed guidelines for training family physicians in resuscitative and surgical techniques as well as in the safe transfer of seriously ill patients to specialized facilities. It is hoped that these guidelines will provide the basis of a national policy for general-practice training that will improve the standard of surgical care in rural communities.