I visited Ottawa, Kingston, Hamilton, London and Toronto in the past few months, and the three-member recruitment team from the small Ontario town of Cornwall has unveiled an alarming revelation.
The revelation was there is an acute shortage of medical doctors. Hold it. This isn’t new, we’ve known this for years. An articel in a newspaper on the same subject more than 10 years ago talked about doctor shortage.
The report said Cornwall is not the only town or city in dire straights for physicians. This city needs four to six family doctors immediately. Ontario in fact is in need of 3,000 new doctors.
Quebec is a close second. It also needs as many doctors. The media has been reporting the shortage of doctors but nothing is happening. The situation is getting worse.
However, very little is being done to train more doctors or to recruit more foreign trained doctors to Canada.
The number of doctors per capital in Canada will decline by 2015 and without more foreign-trained doctors Canada is in trouble. We cannot possibly keep ahead of the pace for need. The Fraser Institute has a solution but it may be too late. They suggest increasing the number of spots for qualified Canadian students is a better solution. Provincial governments have reduced medical school enrollments and post-graduate training programs since 1993 for various reasons. The need for a national change in policy for International Medical doctors is becoming ever more apparent. We can expect change with the implementation of FMRAC.

Canada has a serious physician shortage and it’s expected to grow worse in coming years because of ill-conceived and restrictive policies on physician supply, says a recently published article by the Fraser Institute, which is Canada’s leading public policy think-tank.
“Canada’s physician shortage is a consequence of governments endorsing policies that restricted physician training,” says Nadeem Esmail, who is a Fraser Institute senior fellow and author of Canada’s Physician Supply, which appears in the latest issue of Fraser Forum, the Institute’s bi-monthly magazine.
“Removing restrictions now, while critical in the long term, won’t have an impact for much of the next decade because of the time it takes to train a new doctor. This means it will become increasingly difficult for Canadians to find a family doctor or to see a specialist unless Canada recruits additional foreign-trained physicians.”
In this groundbreaking new article, Esmail looks at the evolution of Canada’s physician supply over time and predicts what could happen in the coming years, taking into important variables such as population growth and Canada’s continued aging workforce population.

Among the key points:
With only 2.3 doctors per 1,000 people in 2006 (age-adjusted), Canada’s physician-to-population ratio ranked 26th out of 28 developed nations that maintain a universal access health care system.
Although Canadians enjoyed one of the highest physician-to-population ratios in the developed world in the early 1970s, Canada’s growth in doctors per capita has lagged far behind that of other developed nations since then.
Physician-to-population ratios are important. Studies have shown that jurisdictions that have higher numbers of doctors tend to have better population health outcomes across a number of health indicators.
Canada’s shortage of physicians arose because of government policies implemented in the early 1990s that restricted admissions to Canadian medical schools and training positions.

Referencing the latest medical school enrolment and graduation rates, Esmail proves that the cohort of new Canadian-trained physicians estimated to be entering the workforce every year through 2018 will fail to meet the number of new doctors required to maintain the standard of care, let alone improve, the country’s physician-to-population ratio.
He calculates Canada would need between 2,339 and 2,256 new physicians each year from 2011 through to 2020 to maintain the current physician-to-population ratio, and this is a conservative estimate that failed to account for the increasing number of doctors currently practising who will retire over the next decade, i.e. up to 2020.
“Given that approximately 38 per cent of Canada’s physicians were aged 55 or older in 2010, the number of physicians needed to replace those who leave the workforce is likely to rise significantly in the near future,” he says.
Esmail discovers that, without a substantial supply and addition of foreign-trained doctors (International Medical Graduates), the Canadian physician-to-population ratio will shrink in coming years, just as it would have through the 1990s if foreign-trained doctors had not made up for the deficit caused by insufficient admissions to Canadian medical schools.
“Government-imposed limitations on the number of physicians being trained in Canada is a policy choice that is not serving the best interests of Canadians, be they patients in need of physicians or capable students who wish to become doctors but are unable to access medical training in this country,” Esmail said.
“Relying on foreign-trained doctors to fill the gap is not a sensible solution to the problem. Canada needs to be training enough physicians to meet the future health care needs of Canadians. The unfortunate reality is that poor policy decisions of the past leave us in a situation where we have little choice but to rely on foreign-trained doctors to ensure the physician shortage doesn’t grow more acute in the short term.”

Hopefully this study and a plethora of other information supporting this study will ignite policy makers in Canada and allow for an easing of access for International Medical Doctors who wish to come to Canada

Wait times report: 8 in 10 get priority procedures within benchmarks. This study shows that 8 out of 10 patients waiting for surgery in priority areas, including eyes (cataracts) and hip/ knee surgeries, are getting the needed care within time frames that were initially agreed upon by Canada’s first ministers a couple of years ago. For more on the article click on this article.

A physician’s shortage is beginning to grip northern Canadian provinces. The Conference Board of Canada has produced a map showing the doctor-patient ratio in northern provinces and it’s not good. It shows one medical doctor for every 3,000 residents.

Southern Canadian provinces, in contrast enjoy a 1 to 400 doctor-patient ratio.

Derrick Hynes, the director of board’s for the Center for the North, said that while Canada generally bears a lack of doctors, the shortage is much worse in the north, especially in provinces like Saskatchewan, Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The 2006 census data, accordingly shows the most recent information, with northern Saskatchewan having only three physicians for every 10,000 population, Nunavut five, northern Newfoundland eight, northern Alberta 10 and northern Manitoba 11, which resulted in a 1 to 3,333 doctor-patient ratio in Saskatchewan and 1 to 2,000 in Nunavut. As you can see the statistics are alarming. The need for more physicians is great and will hopefully be relieved by the kindness
of International Medical Graduates who wish to move to Canada.

There is an exception, the province of Yukon, which enjoys a 1 to 268 doctor-patient ratio. Hynes has theorized that the unusually high ratio in Yukon could be because the census included retired and part-time doctors.

Hynes also said the doctor shortage does increase health risks of northern people because sick people need to be sent hundreds or thousands of kilometers to find any sort of responsible medical coverage.

Because of the tight accreditation requirements of Ottawa, there are many International medical grads who are doctors in their own country , who are living in Canada and cannot practice medicine. Reports show that some are even working as cab drivers in major Canadian urban centers like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

If you got a phone call from an employer, would you be ready for the interview? Most physicians in fact are more than qualified for the job they apply for, but struggle with the interview process. Based on several years of recruiting experience, I’ve identified a few practical tips to guide you through the physician interviewing process.
The first thing to realize is that an interview is a two-way conversation. While the employer has the upper hand in many ways, you both are trying to make a positive impression in hopes of finding a good match. As a result, you should not go into an interview feeling as if you’re being put under a microscope.
It’s important to have a grasp on appropriate interview etiquette. Keep in mind the more prepared you are, the easier it will be for you to be unique compared to the competition.
Being Prepared is important for a successful interview. Here are some interview tips to ensure you are better prepared and have a smooth interview process to land the job you wanted.
Interview Preparation Tips
Homework homework. Research the hospital or clinic you’re interviewing for and understand how you will be an asset to that facility. Be able to communicate that. Not only will this allow you to ask well-educated questions during the interview, but knowing the general facts about the position allows the interviewer to cover more specific areas of interest.
Practice makes perfect. Practice interviewing with a friend, colleague, or associate if possible. Record and listen to yourself before interviewing to eliminate stumbling and partial words like “um’s and oh’s”. The confidence and communication skills acquired in the process are worth it
Be Professional. You don’t have a second chance to make a first impression. A conservative suit, and have a neat with a well-groomed appearance. Make sure that your clothing is clean, pressed, and presentable. Try to develop a rapport with the interviewer. Maintain eye contact and a positive body language. Don’t interrupt the interviewer and listen to them very closely to everything they ask. Always address whomever is interviewing you as Dr./Mr./Mrs. unless they tell you otherwise.
Be Punctual. It is never appropriate to be late for an interview. Before you visit the hospital or clinic, make sure that you can be there on time. Don’t be no more than 10 minutes early for the interview.
Bring a clear copy of your CV, along with names, addresses and phone numbers of your references. Have your CV nearby as a reference; chances are your interviewer has it in front of them and will be asking questions about it.Additionally, jot down a list of your strengths and weaknesses; employers love to ask these slightly predictable questions. Use that to your advantage and be ready with solid answers.
Don’t discuss salary. It is very important to remember that you should not ask about salary during your first interview. If asked what kind of offer you are looking for, your response should be, “I will consider your strongest offer.” This prevents you from giving a figure that’s too high or too low, which could take you out of the running because they can’t afford you – or generate an offer less than desired. If and when they offer you the position, you can negotiate the offer and discuss your salary.
Close the deal. Your goal in any interview is to get an offer. If you like what you see, don’t leave the interview without letting the interviewer know you are really interested in the position.
Write a thank you note. After the interview, take the time to send a handwritten note. It should be brief and tell them you enjoyed your meeting. Express interest in the position and in hearing from them soon.
When it comes to interviews, practice makes perfect. You may be a smart, hardworking candidate, but you are competing against equally intelligent, motivated candidates. Relying completely on your credentials is not sufficient. Understand the interviewing process and practicing the tips in this guide, you will have a better chance for success in your quest for your new job.
Keep in mind that interviewers are as eager to find a good match as you are. Before you sit down to an interview, take a deep breath and focus your attention on all of those things that make you a good candidate. When you’re feeling confident internally, you’ll portray yourself as someone worth getting to know.