June 6, 2008

Ontarians looking for a family doctor will benefit from the government’s initiatives to create more opportunities for internationally trained doctors to enter medical practice in the province.

Swift action to provide more opportunities for internationally trained doctors in the province, delivering more physicians to Ontarians and improving access to health care are the focus of Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP Laurel Broten’s Report on International Medical Doctors. Released today, it complements the significant progress Ontario has made for International Medical Graduate (IMG) doctors since 2004, when the number of residency training positions more than doubled, from 90 to 200 annually. Currently, 630 IMG doctors are in residency training in Ontario.

In her report, Broten, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, includes five key recommendations on how to further increase the number of IMG doctors in Ontario to help improve access to health care for Ontario families :

1. Fast track, simplify and streamline the registration process for doctors already practicing elsewhere in Canada, the U.S. or any other country with a comparable healthcare system to our own;
2. Help internationally trained doctors enter into medical practice in Ontario with the creation of a transitional license which will allow them to practice under supervision while they complete required education or gain specific practical experience;
3. Undertake assessments more efficiently to allow internationally trained doctors to get on with their education and integrate into Ontario’s medical system;
4. Provide individualized bridging support which would include cultural and language education, mentorship and hands on training;
5. Develop individualized assistance for those seeking to transfer their international medical skills and knowledge into another area of the health profession or a related career.

These recommendations will help form the basis of new legislation to further reduce barriers for IMGs.

Today’s announcement was made at a celebration honouring newly minted IMG doctors who are heading off to independent practices throughout Ontario.

“Access to medical care remains one of the – if not the most – pressing health related public concern,” said Laurel Broten. “While public safety and high patient standards must always remain paramount, it is certainly in the public interest to provide greater access to care as well as to ensure that human potential is not lost as a result of the underutilization of international medical skills.”

“Our government is ready to take on the next steps and we intend to introduce a bill before the current session ends that will promote opportunities for internationally educated doctors and we will move quickly to remove remaining barriers,” said George Smitherman, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. “We’re going to be building on our success by further dismantling barriers so that more qualified internationally educated doctors can provide Ontarians with the care they need.”

• More than 5,000 internationally trained doctors are practicing in Ontario, representing almost a quarter of the physician workforce
• More than 500 IMGs are currently taking advantage of training and assessment opportunities
• For the fourth straight year, more certificates were issued to IMGs than to Ontario graduates by The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO)
• CPSO also reports the number of full practice certificates issued to IMGs this year was the highest in 20 years, marking the seventh straight year of an increasing number of certificates for internationally trained doctors

Full Report : Report on Removing Barriers for International Medical Doctors

View a video of the announcement  

Find out how internationally-trained doctors can qualify for professional practice in Ontario.

Removing Barriers for Newcomers : Improving Access to Healthcare (available in 15 languages)

• Bengali
• Simplified Chinese
• Traditional Chinese
• English
• Farsi
• French
• Italian
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Somali
• Spanish
• Tagalog
• Ukrainian
• Urdu

Backgrounder :

• Internationally-Trained Doctors Help Improve Access To Care

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