The country’s medical schools turn away more than 1,000 Canadian doctors trained abroad annually, even though the country is facing a physician shortage. But they still manage to find residency spots for foreign nationals who are much less likely to stay and help chip away at the physician deficit.

  • sbv@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    26·
    9 months ago

    The title is convoluted. It’s more like “residency programs train doctors who move abroad rather than doctors who stay in Canada”. Here’s the relevant bits:

    medical schools that run residency programs still find room for foreign nationals from countries like Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — people who frequently have no intention of staying here to work over the long term.

    All of this is done with Ottawa’s blessing. The federal government has exempted medical schools from immigration laws that require Canadians get priority for a job.

    Critics maintain that dismantling the foreign “visa trainee” program — which gives several hundred residency spots to non-Canadians — would free up positions so more homegrown doctors can work here in Canada and help chip away at the physician deficit.

    And here’s some context:

    Federal data suggest Canada will be short some 44,000 doctors, including more than 30,000 family doctors and general practitioners, by 2028.

    And here’s the smoking gun:

    These foreign nationals have benefactors that pay much more for medical residencies than the sums offered by provincial governments for Canadian residents.

    That explains why the current system continues, Pawliuk said: foreign trainees are a cash cow for the medical schools that administer the residency program.