WHEREAS there is a shortage of physicians and medical specialists in British Columbia; AND WHEREAS the Province of BC is recruiting physicians and medical specialists from other countries to practice in British Columbia to address this shortage: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM encourage the Province of British Columbia and the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons to allow Canadian students who have obtained a medical degree outside of Canada to do their clinical residency and practice in British Columbia.
Ministry of Health Between 200102 and 201213, the number of physicians in BC grew by 29 percent while the BC population grew by 13.4 percent. There are 236 physicians per 100,000 people in BC and this is third highest in Canada behind Nova Scotia 263 per 100,000 people and Newfoundland Labrador 260 per 100,000 people. Canadians Studying Abroad CSAs are considered International Medical Graduates IMGs based on where they graduate from medical school. Medical school graduates from outside Canada can apply to become medical residents in BC. Because international medical education varies widely, abilities of all IMGs cannot be assumed and, therefore, must be demonstrated in qualifying rounds of assessment. To ensure patient safety, this evaluation process is thorough and time intensive. The Ministry is committed to improving access for IMGs. BC and the Medical Council of Canada have made the following policy changes to enable IMG access to Post Graduate Medical Education PGME in BC: 1 The Medical Council of Canada recently agreed to allow IMGs to write the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination in their penultimate year, 20 months prior to graduation from medical school; 2 The Medical Council of Canada agreed to administer the National Assessment Collaboration Objective Structured Clinical Exam NAC OSCE twice a year in BC starting in 2013 with a spring and fall sitting. This doubles the number of IMGs from 70 to 140 who can take the NAC OSCE and apply to Canadian Residents Matching Service in their final year of medical school; The IMG-BC clinical assessment was reduced from 12 to 8 weeks with a focus on family medicine, the number of positions were increased from 35 to 60, and the assessment is now offered five times a year; and, 3 The number of IMG family medicine residency positions at UBC has been increasing since 2011 with eight new positions each year over five years to an expected 40 new entry-level positions in 2016 for a total of 58 IMG positions. These residency positions are distributed to multiple training sites in BC health authorities. BC continues to increase the number of residencies and improve the process for IMGs to access PGME.