Ontario grants licences for more foreign trained MDs

Even with the increase in licences demand outstrips supply. Interesting that US trained doctors are not regarded as foreign trained. The Ontario College must be a fan of deep integration with the US! Perhaps we should be required to pay a certain amount to any third world country each time we hire one of their doctors.



Licences for foreign trained MDs on increase
Ontario body issues overall total of 2,961
JILL MAHONEY

The Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons licensed more foreign-trained doctors than ever last year, according to a new report.

As well, the regulatory body issued the highest number of overall medical licences in 2006. Fully 42 per cent of the 2,961 new licences -- or 1,247 -- were given to internationally trained medical graduates, more than the 37 per cent for Ontario graduates, according to a report released by the college yesterday.

"At the moment, we are quite dependent upon these people and they provide a great source of expertise that we need," said Jeff Turnbull, president of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons.

However, just over one-third of the newly licensed foreign-trained doctors -- 469 -- were certified for medical practice, according to a college spokeswoman. The remainder were granted education licences, including positions for postgraduate training and university instructors.


"Given the shortage of medical doctors that we have, the numbers should be much greater," said Aurelia Tokaci, manager of employment services at the Settlement and Integration Services Organization, a Hamilton-based group that helps foreign-trained doctors.

Indeed, despite the new physicians, the number of family doctors in Ontario who are accepting new patients, for example, continued to decline. Just 9.6 per cent of general practitioners are expanding their practices, down from 39 per cent just seven years ago.

The shortage of family physicians is largely because doctors are retiring, leaving medicine or moving out of the province, Dr. Turnbull said. As well, the population of Ontario is growing and there is higher demand for health services.

"On the one hand, yes, we're giving more licences, but the supply side is limited; the demand side is growing," he said.

The college said that the foreign-trained graduates' share of total licences had tripled since 1995. And 2006 was the third consecutive year that more licences were issued to international medical graduates (a category that does not include those who trained in the United States) than to Ontario medical students. The foreign-trained doctors received their education in 96 different countries; the top sources were India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

The province's increase in international medical graduates (IMGs) is partly due to more government-funded residency spots, an increase in out-of-province IMGs, higher numbers of foreigners seeking specialized training and new registration policies, the college said.

In recent years, governments and those in the health-care field have recognized the role foreign-trained physicians play in easing the doctor shortage and have changed policies to better accommodate international credentials. In Ontario, 200 spots are available annually as part of a provincial government program for IMGs to be assessed and trained to work as physicians.

However, Joshua Thambiraj, president of the Association of International Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, said the college's figures mask the stark reality that Ontario already has large numbers of foreign-trained doctors who are unable to enter the system even after passing all required exams.

"There's a huge human resource here and there's a human need and how do we match this huge human resource to the human need?" he said.

Dr. Thambiraj is an example of the challenges many international physicians face. An orthopedic surgeon who did his specialty training in England, he has passed all required exams in Ontario but has not been able to enter the system -- for reasons he says no one will share.

The 53-year-old worked as an orthopedic surgeon for 24 years before coming to Canada five years ago and makes a living by filling in for other physicians in faraway countries, including in Britain, India, Africa and Malaysia.

"I have passed all the exams, I'm not able to get licensed -- that is a waste of a human resource, especially when the waiting list for hip replacements, knee replacements [is] a year and more."