This story is part of Situation Critical, a CBC British Columbia series reporting on the barriers people in this province face in accessing timely and appropriate health care.
(CBC)
As emergency rooms in some rural parts of the province had to close this weekend due to staff shortages, some internationally trained doctors say barriers to practicing in Canada have forced them to seek a different career.
Honye Barzegari, who earned her degree as a family doctor in Iran before immigrating to Canada, says she has advocated for international medical graduates (IMGs) and change in the province’s health system to make it easier for doctors to practice. trained abroad in BC
“The system is set up to fail international medical graduates instead of giving them the opportunity to practice here,” Barzegari told CBC’s The Early Edition.
On Sunday, Interior Health announced that South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver, British Columbia will be closed from noon to 6 p.m. On Friday, emergency rooms at Dr. Helmcken Memorial in Clearwater and Ashcroft Hospital and Community Health Center closed the weekend.
Barzegari said she moved to Canada knowing there had to be opportunities to practice because of the ongoing shortage of doctors in British Columbia, but she didn’t know all the fees and time it would take.
“The financial barrier is big because the exams are so expensive and I also have to live and pay bills,” she said. “The emotional barrier of trying and failing and not being able to get a license is a big problem.”
Barzegari now works as a clinical solutions manager for a medical product company.
The Canadian Citizenship Institute, which helps newcomers and people seeking citizenship, estimates there are thousands of foreign-trained doctors whose qualifications have allowed them to be quickly selected for Canadian citizenship, but provincial regulators refuse to recognize their credentials.
On Friday, the emergency department at Dr. Helmken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater, British Columbia, closed for the weekend. (Internal Health)
Stigma surrounding international study
Valorie Crooks, a professor in the department of geography at Simon Fraser University, says Canadian students who decide to pursue their medical education abroad are not aware of what it takes to return and practice medicine in Canada.
“Many people who start out pursuing these schools as an option do not realize that they will actually return as International Medical Graduates (IMGs).
“They will have to gain access to the practice of the medical profession in the same way as others who have been trained internationally.”
A health worker is pictured in Vancouver, British Columbia in January. Some internationally trained doctors in the province say barriers to practicing in Canada have forced them to seek a different career. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
She said that in addition to all the qualifying tests and recognized medical degrees, there is a stigma surrounding students who decide to pursue medical education elsewhere.
“One of the issues that has been raised is the concern about the quality of education at these institutions, so that creates a layer of stigma that some returning Canadians will have to deal with in addition to other barriers.”
Crooks said many IMGs are “cut off” from the system simply because there isn’t enough capacity in the province’s health system to allow them to practice.
“The pool of Canadians who go abroad for medical school and want to come back and practice actually further limits the space available for those who weren’t actually born and raised in Canada.”
Add more residences
Rajkumar Vijendra Das, a family doctor in Vancouver, British Columbia, said he immigrated to Canada in 2010 from India after working as a doctor in his home country for more than five years.
He said it took him about eight years to pass the qualifying exams and complete his residency before he could practice medicine—something that could have taken less time if he had been admitted to a residency earlier. early.
“So I passed all the necessary exams and applied for residency. I applied across Canada and was willing to go anywhere. I also had experience, but I didn’t answer.”
He said he works in a call center to save money to pay for the expensive exams IMGs must take, which are offered only a few times a year.
“Exams can cost about $2,000 or more, and you have to take several of them. I had to save up for it.”
Das says he eventually returned to India to gain more clinical experience before returning to British Columbia and reapplying for residency.
A stretcher stands outside St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver in January 2021. The Institute of Canadian Citizenship estimates there are thousands of foreign-trained doctors whose qualifications have allowed them to be fast-tracked for Canadian citizenship, but provincial regulators refuse to recognize their credentials. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
“My employer gave me some time off and I was able to come back to India, but not everyone can because there are families to support,” he said.
Das said more residency spots should be designated for IMGs in British Columbia
“UBC has 52 residency slots for IMGs,” he said. “So it becomes a lottery facility and it becomes so competitive, but if you have double that number, then it would make sense.”
The Canadian Resident Matching Service’s 2021 report shows that 325 international medical graduates were selected for residency out of 3,365 matches.
Das said he was one of the lucky ones who was able to pursue a career in medicine in Canada when so many others were forced to do something else.
In March, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia said a program designed to attract more foreign-trained doctors to British Columbia’s medical profession had been postponed due to the pandemic’s impact on operations.
The college said the new associate physician role could help meet the province’s health needs by allowing physicians who are not eligible for a full license to work under the supervision of a physician.
College registrar Dr. Heidi Yotter said once the program is up and fully operational, it should help attract more doctors to the BC health care system.
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