A Marathon session: a town's MDs develop a philosophy to call their own

Last June CMAJ described how Marathon--a remote town in Northern Ontario--had gone from medical rags to riches in just over a year (CMAJ 1997;156:1593-6). Once chronically underserviced in terms of physician services, this community of 5500 people went from a single overworked doctor to a group practice of 7 physicians. The change involved far more than numbers, however. The Marathon solution was built on a philosophy of physician sustainability and long-term retention, not just recruitment. The change was designed to ensure that the town could finally get off the roller-coaster ride that saw more than 75 doctors come--and go--during the previous 10 years. A year after its initial report, CMAJ returned to see if the Marathon experiment was still working.