International doctors frustrated by pathway to practice in Ontario
Posted Jan 10, 2023 02:30:00 AM.
As more than a million Ontarians do not have access to a family physician and hospitals deal with mounting pressure, thousands of internationally trained health care providers are unable to get their licenses to practice in Canada.
Dr. Makini McGuire-Brown, chair of not-for-profit advocacy organization Internationally Trained Physicians of Ontario (ITPO) and an internationally trained physician herself, said doctors who came to Canada to be doctors are frustrated at being sidelined when the healthcare system needs them the most.
“You can't understand why you have these skills, and no one wants to use them,” said McGuire-Brown on The Sam Laprade Show. “I came here, I passed my exams, I showed my medical degree, it was approved as an official accepted medical degree. And yet still, I'm here and I can't practice and I can't help.”
Between 2015 and 2021, 2,270 new permanent residents to Ontario identified their occupation as a primary or specialist physician.
“Our group is a year and half old and we have approximately 1,600 members,” said McGuire-Brown.
ITPO points to a number of systemic barriers that stop internationally trained physicians from practicing in Ontario, including the lack of a Practice Ready Assessment, expanded to residency training, and pathways for internationally trained physicians to practice as clinical assistants through the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
“It can be fixed, it can be improved,” said McGuire-Brown. “I don't know why it's so difficult for them to just be serious about it and do what needs to be done. It's not like we're in this rut and we can never come out of.”
Listen to the entire interview with Dr. Makini McGuire-Brown on The Sam Laprade Show below.
