Please hear me out. We are all aware how the family doctors here suck the life out of you but won’t find it “necessary” to give you a referral to a specialist until you have like a chronic condition or something.

I have been battling with a skin infection from September 2023 that I could use a dermatologist and/or a gynaecologist referral for, but my family physician just won’t give it to me. She has prescribed antibiotics now after the nurse practitioner at her office misdiagnosed me back in September. I am not sure if the antibiotics are helping, it’s been 2 out of 5 days already.

How do I make sure I get a specialist referral once I go for a followup this time around? Do I just camp at my family physician’s office until she gives me one? Why is it so hard to get a specialist referral here? What’s the point of “universal healthcare” if I can’t get access to the specialist I need when I need them?