History of MFP

The Department of Family Medicine (DFM), part of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University, was created in 1967. Shortly after, the McMaster Family Practice Unit opened, located front and centre of the brand-new McMaster University Medical Centre.

It was one of the first clinics in Canada to provide training to new family doctors in a setting where many learners (Residents) and faculty work and learn together. Before these clinical teaching units were formed, Residents would generally train one-on-one with a general practitioner in the community. Now Residents have a choice between smaller community settings and the larger clinical teaching units.

When the Department of Family Medicine (DFM) was first created in 1967, there were clinical teaching units located within each of the four Hamilton hospitals:

North Hamilton Community Health Centre
Originally located in the General Hospital, it is now located at 554 John St N, and will soon relocate to Simcoe Street. NHCHC is no longer a DFM resident teaching site.

First Place
This unit was located within St. Joseph’s Hospital, and then moved to First Place on King St E. This clinical teaching unit closed in the early 1990’s.

Stonechurch Family Health Centre (SFHC)
SFHC opened in the Henderson Hospital and was known as the McMaster Clinic. It moved out into the community, on Stone Church Rd E, in 1992, and moved to its  current 1475 Upper Ottawa location in 2006.

McMaster Family Practice (MFP)
In 2002 MFP moved from MUMC into the community at 690 Main St W.

MFP is fortunate that some staff who have lived MFP’s history are still working in the clinic. Jan Baxter and Betty Delmore, both Nurse Practitioners, have been with MFP since 1976-1977.

The patients of MFP come from a wide variety of social and economic areas of Ontario. There are those who have been patients since the unit opened; some who have a connection to McMaster University as students, employees, or philanthropists; new immigrants to Hamilton, and all in between

Nurse Practitioners and Social Workers have always been part of the patient team in the units. The creation of the McMaster Family Health Team (FHT) in 2005 allowed MFP to increase the number of social workers, psychiatrists and nurse practitioners, and incorporate new health professionals - dietitian, lactation consultant, pharmacist – into the patient care team.

While teaching family doctors is our main education mandate, MFP also trains students in the fields of our FHT staff. As of 2008 MFP provides family medicine training to 40 Residents.

MFP Residents are students who have obtained their medical degree and are now specializing in family medicine. During their two-year residency program, they work full time at MFP for eight months. For the other 16 months they are in other hospital/community rotations, working at MFP one half-day per week.

Students who have done their education in Canada complete a 3- or 4-year post-secondary degree, a 3 or 4-year undergraduate medical program, and then complete their 2-year residency. Some medical clerks, and international medical graduates, also come to MFP at various times throughout the year for rotation placements, or family medicine tutoring by some of our faculty physicians.