As we receive many questions from potential new patients asking to be assigned to a female physician or whether they can see a female physician more generally, this blog post is designed to help answer the most frequently asked questions.
Kindly review, and should there be further questions, feel free to get in touch!
I’m female. Why did I get assigned to a male physician?
For reasons discussed here, we do not assign new patients to physicians based on their age, ethnicity or gender.
However, as individuals may have reasonable particular preferences related to religious, cultural or other personal reasons, we offer the opportunity to choose a different physician upfront. We further discuss in detail the reasons here, here and here.
How do I get reassigned to a female doctor?
Everyone who registers and is successfully processed will have been sent a link to book with a particular physician.
On that page, there should be a paragraph (see screenshot) explaining how to switch to a different physician. Just a reminder, you need to switch before booking an appointment.
Please note that we do not maintain any physician waitlists.
There are female physicians at my preferred clinic location but there are no available appointments. What can I do?
If you cannot find a suitable appointment for yourself, we ask that you check back later. You are most likely to find a suitable appointment time on the 15th of every month. This is when new appointments are generally released. Cancelled appointments also become bookable by others immediately.
Our staff do not have the ability to book appointments outside the listed availability, nor do we maintain a waiting list or last minute cancellation list.
Please visit this link if you would like to check the availability of other physicians accepting patients at other Magenta Health locations.
Please note that we do not maintain any physician waitlists.
There are no female physicians at my preferred clinic location. What can I do?
Option #1 - Book with a female physician at a different clinic location than your original preferred location with the understanding that it is generally not an option to switch physicians or clinics once the intake appointment is completed.
Please visit this link if you would like to check the availability of other physicians accepting patients at other Magenta Health locations.
Option #2 - Periodically check back at your preferred clinic location. If there is a female physician accepting new patients, their name and availability will automatically show up. To access a list of all available physicians, including female physicians, at your preferred clinic location, see the section on the booking page labelled “Switching Physicians”.
Please note that we do not maintain any physician waitlists.
Can I start seeing a male physician and then switch to a female physician when one becomes available?
Can I see a female physician at a different Magenta Health location then switch to my preferred location when a female physician becomes available at my preferred location?
It is not an option to switch clinics after your initial intake appointment absent specific circumstances. We discuss in detail the reasons here.
I was referred to this specific female physician by Health Care Connect (HCC). How can I book with them?
HCC is a government organisation that helps Ontarians find family doctors. Being referred by HCC does not automatically mean that you are a patient of the suggested doctor. Individuals still have to register via our website and the suggested physician may not be available when the registration is processed.
I was referred to this specific female physician by a friend/family member but I don't see the physician on the available list. How can I book with them?
The appointment booking pages accessible here list all physicians who are actively accepting patients.
Our other physicians may sometimes agree to accept specific individuals, for example, family members of existing patients.
If you already have a physician's express agreement to take you on as a patient, please email us and we will look into it and get back to you directly.