They are responsible for the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments.

In Quebec during the 18th century, a series of charitable institutions, many set up by Catholic religious orders, provided such care.

In the mid-1870s, Sir William Osler changed the face of medical school instruction with the introduction of the hands-on approach.

In 1834, William Kelly, a surgeon with the Royal Navy, introduced the idea of preventing the spread of disease via sanitation measures following epidemics of cholera.

In 1892, Dr. William Osler wrote the landmark text The Principles and Practice of Medicine, which dominated medical instruction in the West for the following half century.

Around this time, a movement began that called for the improved healthcare for the poor, focusing mainly on sanitation and hygiene.

This period saw important advances including the provision of safe drinking water to most of the population, public baths and beaches, and municipal garbage services to remove waste from the city.

[3] In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women made inroads into various professions including teaching, journalism, social work, and public health.

In 1883, Emily Stowe led the creation of the Ontario Medical College for Women, affiliated with the University of Toronto.

[4] Healthcare in Canada is delivered through thirteen provincial and territorial systems of publicly funded health care, informally called Medicare.

The government does not participate in day-to-day care or collect any information about an individual's health, which remains confidential as per the doctor-patient relationship.

[11] In 2018, to draw attention to the work of nurses and the declining level of service provided to patients, more than 700 physicians, residents, and medical students in Quebec signed an online petition asking for their pay raises to be canceled.

[12] In 1991, the Ontario Medical Association agreed to become a province-wide closed shop, making the OMA union a monopoly.

The report stated that 1,370 obstetricians were practising in Canada and that number is expected to fall by at least one-third within five years.

[15] Each province regulates its medical profession through a self-governing regulatory body, which is responsible for licensing physicians, setting practice standards, and investigating and disciplining its members.

The national doctors association is called the Canadian Medical Association;[16] it describes its mission as "To serve and unite the physicians of Canada and be the national advocate, in partnership with the people of Canada, for the highest standards of health and health care.

[18] Since the passage of the 1984 Canada Health Act, the CMA itself has been a strong advocate of maintaining a strong publicly funded system, including lobbying the federal government to increase funding, and being a founding member of (and active participant in) the Health Action Lobby (HEAL).

[20] There are multiple components to the education of a physician or surgeon in Canada, and the process varies slightly between provinces.

[21] For example, Quebec's medical schools accept applicants after a two-year CEGEP diploma, which is the equivalent of other provinces' grade 12 plus the first year of university.

[26] McMaster University strictly utilizes the Critical Analysis and Reasoning section of the MCAT to determine interview eligibility and admission rank.

McGill University and Université de Montréal in the province of Quebec both offer a five-year program that includes a medical preparatory year to entering CEGEP graduates.

Often this research training is undertaken during elective time and between the basic science and clinical clerkship halves of the curriculum.

It is also open to graduates from international medical schools (IMGs) who meet the basic criteria and have no prior postgraduate training in Canada or the US.

Fields of training may include cardiology, gastroenterology, general internal medicine, nephrology, and respirology, amongst others.

[35] The MCC also maintains the Canadian Medical Register, a list of physicians who have completed or have been exempted from the LMCC requirement.

This is the first step for medical graduates who wish to obtain licence to practise prior to applying to their own regulatory body in their home province or territory.

[36] The CFPC establishes the standards for the training, certification, and lifelong education of family physicians in Canada.

[37] The CFPC recognizes the following enhanced skills programs for which it delivers a Certificate of Added Competence (CAC) in a specialized domain of family and community medicine:[38] Once the MCC Qualifying Examination Part 2 and the CFPC or RCPSC examinations are completed, the physician must contact their provincial or territorial regulatory authority in order to obtain their license to practice independently.