Province of Canada will make it easier for medics to be licensed
This is how the region fights a catastrophic shortage of doctors and nurses.
British Columbia will give doctors with foreign credentials more opportunities for licensing and further employment in the province.
"The pandemic has exposed underlying challenges and added new strains to our public health-care system," commented provincial Premier David Eby. — "Meanwhile, family doctors trained outside of Canada aren’t able to practise family medicine, because they lack a pathway to be licensed here. We need to fix this."
To allow more foreign doctors to work, B.C. is expanding its Practice Ready Assessment program. It is the only program that allows medics with foreign credentials to be licensed to work in the region. By March 2024, the number of places in the program will triple, from 32 to 96.
In addition, international medical graduates who are not eligible for a license in B.C. will be able to work as associate physicians They will take care of patients under the supervision of experienced doctors. The provincial government will also work to ensure that graduates can begin the regulatory registration process before they arrive in Canada. This will allow them to start work as soon as they move.
Another initiative is to make it easier for those who have studied in the U.S. to find employment. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, which handles licensing, will prepare changes to the licensing process. Doctors who have completed three years of training at U.S. universities will be able to work without restriction in urgent and primary care centers, public clinics and become family doctors. The changes are scheduled to take effect as early as January 2023.
B.C. has several ways for health professionals to immigrate. There is a special Health Authority stream for them. The province also conducts targeted draws for health professionals in the Skilled Worker, Entry Level and Semi-Skilled, and International Graduate streams.
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