Rural Canada has had difficulty recruiting and retaining physicians for decades. [1][2][3][4] There is a known maldistribution of Canadian physicians, with 17.8% of Canadians residing in rural areas 5 and 8% of physicians practising in rural communities. 6 In Ontario, at least 2.2 million individuals do not have a family doctor, and the shortage is especially acute in northern and rural areas. 7 To address the shortage, there have been policies and educational strategies to train and recruit rural physicians. 8-10 Yet, many rural communities remain underserved. Addressing the family physician workforce crisis in rural Ontario requires both retention of current family physicians and the recruitment of new family physicians to meet the needs of rural communities.The transition from residency to independent rural family practice is not well explored in the literature. The results of the limited studies show that new physicians experience unique challenges during the transition to practice across locations and specialties, 11,12 and periods of transition, such as entry into practice, may increase the risk of burnout. 13 In general, some sources suggest that early-career physicians may have higher levels of burnout than physicians later in their careers. 14,15 Factors associated with early-career burnout include poor career fit, and dissatisfaction with collegial relationships, quality of care provided and control over the work environment. 14 The objective of this study was to understand the experiences of family physicians in rural Ontario during their first years of practice and reveal ways to prepare and support family physician graduates in rural areas, ultimately improving recruitment and retention for rural communities.