Chronic illness and an aging population are fuelling Alberta’s physician shortage, say University of Calgary researchers.

While the supply of family doctors has kept pace with Alberta’s rapidly growing demographic, those practitioners are being stretched thin by increasingly complex medical conditions and older patients, said Dr. Braden Manns, lead investigator at the Cumming School of Medicine.

While he said not enough physicians are being trained in the province , the nature of their workload is undoubtedly playing a factor in how long it takes to see a physician or if any are even available, he said.

“If you talk to family doctors, they’re seeing sicker people and it takes longer to take care of them, or they see them more frequently,” said Manns.

“It’s not just about the supply (

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