A comparison of the practice patterns of general practitioners and family physicians graduating from McMaster and other Ontario medical schools

The extent to which medical education influences physicians’ later practice behavior was studied. This descriptive study, which used 1986 billing data obtained from the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan, identified several differences in the style of practice chosen by two groups: (a) general practice/family medicine (GP/FM) physicians who graduated from McMaster Medical School from 1972 to 1983 and (b) contemporary GP/FM graduates from other Ontario medical schools who are practicing in Ontario. A paired analysis matched within pairs by sex, location, and time since graduation. McMaster GP/FMs were more likely to be certified in family medicine than the comparison group. Significant differences in style of practice were observed. McMaster graduates provided fewer services, saw fewer patients, and earned less than their matched contemporaries but their cost per patient seen was higher. Differences were also noted in the pattern of services delivered. McMaster GP/FM graduates did less emergency‐room work and performed fewer minor assessments of patients, whereas they did more psychotherapy and delivered more prenatal‐care services per 100 patients seen than their contemporaries. No differences were noted in use of consultants, laboratory tests, and other diagnostic and therapeutic procedures per 100 patients, or in other service categories examined. Both selection and curriculum differences between McMaster's medical program and the other Ontario medical schools are likely to have contributed to the differences observed.