Survey: Medical Licensing
The Castanets Staff – September 17, 2022 / 7:30 am | History: 385562
Photo: The Canadian Press/HO-Canadian Medical Association
Dr. Catherine Smart, former president of the Canadian Medical Association, is calling for a national pathway for physician licensure.
As Canadian health care systems buckle under the weight of a physician shortage, the former president of the Canadian Medical Association is calling for a national pathway to licensing doctors — and some provinces are agreeing.
The current system, where each province has its own licensing system, is confusing and bureaucratically cumbersome, especially for doctors trained outside of Canada, Dr. Catherine Smart said in a recent interview.
A national physician license could provide a single, streamlined process for verifying the credentials of internationally trained physicians, she said.
“Having (all) provinces accrediting every university or every country, regardless, really doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Smart said. “It would make sense to do it once, for the country.”
Foreign-trained doctors arrive in the country hoping to practice but are often stymied by the confusing and expensive licensing process, she said. Some end up going to countries where it’s easier to get a job, she said, adding, “A lot of people never get into the system and actually practice medicine.”
The issue of cumbersome licensing for doctors trained outside the country has recently come to the fore in several provinces. Last month, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones directed the province’s regulatory boards to develop plans to more quickly register internationally educated doctors and nurses.
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