I asked my doctor, who is from South Africa, how this works. MCRealtor had mentioned doctors working as cab drivers and convenience store clerks.

Apparently it all depends on which medical school you graduated from. If your medical school has been accredited with (I believe) the Canadian government, or it might be a provincial thing, then you can challenge the exam and get practicing right away. However, if your med school is not one that is accredited, then yes, you have to go back and pass the exams again.

He said it doesn't go by country or anything like that. He says that some medical schools in the States are not accredited. He mentioned a doctor from Mexico who did not go to an accredited medical school and who worked as a pharmaceutical rep until he got qualified.

I have no idea how you find out which are the accredited medical schools in various countries, but I thought I would let you know how come there are doctors working in menial jobs.

My doctor thought it was a good idea, because he says it keeps the standard high.

Simple.

They qualified from Field Marshall Hailie Selassie Bongwhopper the Fourth Most Revered Imperial Distance Learning Medical School of Timbuktuu.

R.

Your doctor is wrong Purley. Only some medical schools in the USA are accredited. Some foreign ones are accredited for a restricted license, ie the doctor can practice while studying for the exam.

So unless the doc studied at a specified US med school then they would have to get their qualifications reviewed so that they are then able to sit the MCCEE, the qualifying exam. They then have to sit a post grad exam before they can work as a doctor.

Exemptions that allow restricted practice allowed in most provinces for rural medicine

This link gives the details. Its also useful as it has an overview of the healthcare system in Canada
http://www.img-canada.ca/en/index.html

I might be wrong but I think thats what Liz said

Anyway, its the medical council of canada that administers who is worthy and who isnt

http://www.mcc.ca/en/

although its provincial medical boards that do the testing.

The MCC goes by this organisations lists;
https://imed.faimer.org/
and also by the World Health Organisation list of medical schools which is not available online.


Another way of saying "My doctor thought it was a good idea, because he says it keeps the standard high." is "Its a good idea as it keeps the riff raff out and I can still charge a very high hourly rate for my services"

There is a website specifically for international graduates
http://www.img-canada.ca/en/index.html

Just like the PEng closed shop.

Are they seriously suggesting that an english doctor with ten years practice would be a risk to canadian patients. Its seems unlikely.


The BMA rather helpfully put together a page for doctors planing to come and work in canada;

http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content...orkingincanada

I thought Liz said it didn't go by country, and EVEN (my caps) some medical schools in the States aren't listed.

The basic qualifying exam they have to take is the MCCQE, then further exams after that.

It's ridiculous really. I know of a senior, very senior British doctor who would have had to take all the exams again so he went elsewhere.

I think its rather arrogant of this GP to assume that Canada has the highest standards, but its typical. No one wants to learn from others experiences.

My best mate in the UK is a surgeon who was seriously interested in coming here...right up to the point he looked at what he would have to do. After 15 years or so of taking exams up to the point he was a fellow of the royal college or whatever it was he had finally reached a point where he wanted to spend more time with family, not have to do yet another series of exams. So he stays in Nottingham, driving to Birmingham to work each day.

With the shortage of doctors here its high time something was done to fastrack qualified people in.

Britain has a surplus of recently trained doctors who are struggling to find places for speciality training. Why not target them, they would only have to resit one exam rather than all the FRCS, FRCP etc.

I have a feeling you are either misreading or inventing what I said. I SAID my doctor said that some medical schools in the States are not accredited.

Then you said "only some in the States are accredited". To me that is the same as saying that some are not accredited isn't it? Iaink obviously agrees.

He used the words "EVEN some schools in the States are not accredited" to emphasise that even though the US is in North America and just across the border, you cannot assume that every medical school there is accredited.

Also, he did not say that Canada had the highest standards, what I said he said was that he agreed with the practice because it kept the standards high.

Not "the highest" -- high. What he obviously meant was that the system in place might exclude really good doctors, but it also might exclude under qualified doctors if they allowed everyone to practice medicine. So to prevent this happening they decided to use the method of accepting doctors from med school that they accredited.

Of course, they could have chosen another method - but they didn't.

That surplus was part of his reasoning..the UK has for some reason trained far more consultants than it can actually employ. I think its daft for the CMA/ MCC to put any impediment in the way of cherry picking the excess skilled doctors struggling to find an appropriate job in the UK.

I may be misreading but I am certainly not inventing. What a cheek.
I read it to say that if a doctor from Mexico wasn't accredited and accreditation doesn't go "by country or anything like that" then, as Mexico isn't part of the USA, the implication is that countries other than USA can be accredited. You also said Again this implies, states even that medical schools in other countries can be accredited. My reply was to say that accreditation only happens for USA medical schools.

I've also added details that its not just one exam post med school standard that the doctors have to take, but the whole thing, post grad studies, several years worth.

Let it go.....

They won't. They have teeth and they wanna use 'em.

R.

As lovely as the scenery is, and the 'quality of life', it is just not worth the hassle to go through all the exams again to go and live in Canada. Whether they be medical, legal, plumbing or any other 'professional qualification', the Canadian Government is scoring an own goal in being so parochial.

The rest of the world has standards too, and aside of language issues - a doctor at an accredited medical scholl is a doctor. A professionally qualified blah, is a qualified blah - or are the internal organs of a Canadian so different from that of a German or an American? That's why so many professionally qualified people return to their homeland, or look elsewhere.

That said, I am still pursuing my visa as I have a mind to leave my professional background and do something completely different that does not require more exams!

Its really not the governments faults. All these rules are made by the autonomous provincial and federal licensing bodies.

Now, you could argue that the government should start to dictate to them, but really it has little influence, which is perhaps a good thing.

Its no surprise to me that the governing bodies dont make it easy. These bodies exist to protect there members interests, and no members are interested in increased competition and reduced remuneration as a result.

Despite what you say, it seems that there are numerous doctors and engineers prepared to go through the hoops to practise here. Anyone who comes here without doing the homework and realising whats involved, and ends up driving a Taxi as a result really has no one but themselves to blame if you ask me. I do have sympathy for people who come here as refugees or to be with there spouse who run into these problems, and it does seem stupid not to fully use peoples skills and tallents once they are here, but there is still a requirement then to maintain established standards too.

In truth I dont mind the qualifying/certification exam as thats the same that all Canadian trained HCPs have to take, but the further study and post grad stuff should be accepted once reviewed for content.

The course I studied for here, HIM, if I don't register as a member of CHIMA then after 3 years I would have to resit the certification exam. So that side of things is a Canadian cultural, historical, money generating scheme.