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Table 7 Illustrative participant quotes on financial and opportunity costs of being sufficiently trained

From: Influences on intentions for obstetric practice among family physicians and residents in Canada: an explorative qualitative inquiry

If I don’t feel at the end of my two years that I’m comfortable with delivering babies or I’m not comfortable doing emerg then I won’t be providing those services … I know there’s options of doing an extra… 3 months or a year depending on the route you take… those are things that I definitely considered. However, it comes down to… time. Like being in residency a bit longer … thinking about that can be difficult to comprehend. And then also too like financially… we have quite a bit of debt. So, me spending another three months or a year in residency versus me working, that… comes into play as well. (Resident, woman, NS)

So, the reason I don’t deliver babies … is I didn’t get enough experience, I feel. I had 20 shifts on obstetrics, and only delivered 6 or 7 babies. So, you know, that shaped me in the opposite direction. I really had wanted to provide that as a service, but I just don’t have the experience. And I didn’t want to take an extra… 6 months or a year, to do more training. (Family Physician, woman, ON)

So, when I finished my two-year family medicine training, I actually went on to do a fellowship in women’s health and obstetrics. Those were areas of interest of mine that I wanted to gain more focused clinical skills around. (Family Physician, woman, NS)