Thursday, June 7, 2007

Foreign trained doctors ask for discrimination probe in Quebec

If there is doctor shortage one would think that residencies would be available. Maybe the problem is that doctors tend to press for residencies in urban areas when in many rural areas doctors are needed. Anyway you would think a doctor working at a university as a research fellow and who passed all the exams should be able to get a residency.

Foreign-trained MDs request discrimination probe
Last Updated: Thursday, June 7, 2007 | 3:48 PM ET
CBC News
A coalition of foreign-trained doctors in Quebec says they are being systematically discriminated against when applying for hospital residency programs, and they want the province's human rights tribunal to investigate.

"We want to stay here, but the system in Quebec is especially tough, and not reasonable tough," said Behzad Mansouri, who said he was a successful family doctor in Iran before he moved to Quebec with his family.

He's now a research fellow in neuroscience at McGill University. He wants to work as a doctor in a hospital but he's been shut out of getting a residency, he said.

Many foreign-trained doctors are never told why they are refused a residency, said Dr. Comlan Amouzou, a spokesperson for the Coalition of Associations for Foreign Trained Doctors.

"They pass all the exams, so no need to close the door — no need anymore. We are are Canadian. We are not foreigners," Amouzou said.

The coalition on Wednesday morning asked Quebec's Human Rights Tribunal to investigate how international medical graduates are chosen for residencies.

The system must change to address the shortage of doctors in the province, he said.

No comments: