Retirement Patterns and the Shortage of Anesthesiologists in Quebec and British Columbia

Abstract

We describe the practice profile of Quebec and British Columbia (BC) specialist anesthesiologists. All provincial health-care billings from Quebec and BC were obtained for the period from 1 January 1993 to 31 December 2002. We categorized the specialist anesthesiologists into one of three age categories (<51, 51–64, and 65+) and assigned a case complexity value (low, moderate, high) to every procedure billed. Anesthesiologists who continued working after age 65 provided anesthesia to fewer patients and for less complex surgery than those in the younger age groups. The end-of-career package introduced in Quebec in 1995 led to an overall reduction in the number of cared-for patients. Predictions of manpower shortages in anesthesia must be province specific and may fail to account for government policies or changes in practice. Consequently they are likely underestimates.