Improving Non-Urban Access to Specialist OBGYN Care in Canada: A Call to Action

There are significant inequities in access to specialist obstetrical and gynecologic care between urban and non-urban Canada. Without purposeful action, this inequity crisis will worsen. The relationship between postgraduate training site and practice location is well-established: non-urban training site is associated with subsequent non-urban practice. Therefore, one avenue to increase the recruitment and retention of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in non-urban locations is to establish university-affiliated non-urban postgraduate training sites. We outline the rationale for, and practical considerations of, the establishment of distributed non-urban Obstetricians and Gynecologists training sites across Canada to improve access to specialty female reproductive health care for all populations.