Muzzerboy

My wife was a very senior CP in the UK having qualified 20 years ago. She was Lead Clinician ie resp for delivery of ALL psychological services for an entire county in S England, with a large team and including training for 90+ (CBT etc).

Her quals were fully accredited in the UK by the BABCP (the formal professional body you need to be a member of to practice there) yet she will be unable to work here in Vancouver, even as a private shrink, unless she is admitted to the BC College of Psychologists.

UK credentials don't seem to be recognised at all, so she is required to demonstrate that her training would have earned the required credits here, if she had been trained in BC. Of course, her universities (Sheffield and Edinburgh) don't keep records of what they taught 20 years ago, so she's stuffed. She might as well have made it all up.

Psychology is on The List of skills (#4151) yet it sounds almost impossible for her to leap through the hoops. Has anyone got experience to share on this subject, ideally how to become recognised?

I came in on the PNP, which also got my wife and children in. However, she's not about to abandon her career of 20+ years (it took years to get qualified) and sit around.

Any suggestions how to proceed or who to get in touch with would be very gratefully received. Any similar experiences?

Thanks,

Muzzer

ExKiwilass

have you called the BC College of Psychologists?

Oink

It’s a shame but a lot of well qualified immigrants don't have their qualifications and experience recognized in Canada and end up doing different jobs, like taxi driving or shop work.

John_B

It does seem to be a common theme here in Canada. A lot of employers also ask for Canadian experience. Like the laws of physics apply differently here or something.

If I were in your position I'd say stuff it and stay in the UK. Canada is a great place to live, but not at any cost.

ann m

I agree .

What is your driving force to be in Canada - either for you, or your wife, or as a family?

A 20-year career - resulting in a senior position - is not to be thrown away lightly.

JonboyE

Almost is the key word. Sheffield and Edinburgh are not tinpot universities. If they cannot provide transcripts there are other ways to document training and equivalent to academic experience.

I am not saying it is going to be easy, but it can be done if you have the determination.

Siouxie

You should be able to obtain transcripts, these websites may be of use to you:

Transcripts:

Sheffield:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/ssid/transcript/transfor.html

http://www.shef.ac.uk/ssid/verification.html (verification of qualifications)

Requests will be processed within three working days. This may be be longer if:

we need to query requests if where data is incompete
we need to query requests if the data does not match our records
the student graduated before 1998

It doesn't say they won't be available, just that it will take longer.

Edinburgh:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departme...nscripts-certs

Undergraduates with a graduation date between 1988 and 2005 Registry can provide results for sub-honours courses. Honours courses are listed on the Transcript along with the final Honours classification, but no individual results are recorded. Contact the School or College Office for more detailed information.

and

Table A:
A Transcript provides details of degree examinations passed, and, for certain categories of student, the grade and mark awarded.

A Statement simply states the degree passed, year of graduation and class of Honours (if applicable).

If you graduated prior to 2005 Registry can only issue an Academic Statement (Table A), contact the School or College Office responsible for your qualification for more detailed information.

See also: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departme...authentication


Converting overseas qualifications:

http://www.bcit.ca/ices/apply/organizations.shtml

http://www.cicic.ca/412/Prior_Learni...Canada_.canada

http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~plar/l.../BC/links.html

http://www.bc-counsellors.org/apply.aspx

She could also get verification of her membership of the BABCP alongside professional colleague references to verify her qualifications.

ireland2canada

Point her towards the BC College of Psychologists website.

http://www.collegeofpsychologists.bc.ca/index.php

Follow the links for Registrants. There are various different types of application depending on your situation.

Novocastrian

This thread hardly reinforces confidence in the research skills of Uk trained senior clinical psychologists, does it?

ireland2canada

It's a matter of perception.

Muzzerboy

Sheffield CAN do a transcript but that was only her first degree. Edinburgh was her PhD and Masters and if you look at Table B they say "Registry can only issue full Transcript information for current students and 2005/06 graduates onwards. If you graduated prior to 2005 Registry can only issue an Academic Statement (Table A), contact the School or College Office responsible for your qualification for more detailed information.", which is the same difference but a statement won't suffice.

She's been on to the College of Psychologists obviously and the requirements are fairly well stated. That's where the fun started....

They don't acknowledge BABCP or any other foreign body and professional references don't cut the mustard either.

Siouxsie, I'll see if she's checked all those links. Hopefully there's something in there she's not noticed before. Thanks for the pointer and the constructive advice!

Muzzer

maggie and chris

Hi,

I'm a Registered Forensic Psychologist and Chartered with the BPS (British Psychological Society - the professional body for Psychologists). I'm working through the Canadian forms at the moment, but when chatting my situation through with an 'assessor' with the Ontario College of Psychologists, he stated that my Chartership would help me in finding work, and that the CPA recognises the BPS. Of course, I'm yet to see if this is the case! Is/was your wife Chartered - I wonder whether that would make things a little easier?

Best of luck,
Maggie

Bill_S

Muzzerboy

Maggie

That's interesting. How did you get in touch with this assessor (a real person by the sounds)? In BC, the body is the International Creditation Evaluation Service at the local tech (BCIT). It's difficult to talk to anyone senior and they've been quite formal and aloof.

She was a member of the BPS for years and has been chartered for some time. In her line of work, she needed to be registered with the BABCP in order to work, so it's even more demanding than the BPS membership. I know because I had to help her with the application.

Muzzer

Muzzerboy

Bill_S - are you a snapper then?