In China, Dr. Wei He had a family medical practice for almost ten years. But she left it all behind in hopes of giving her daughter a better life in Canada.
“I thought it won’t be easy,” she said. “But I had faith that if I had good knowledge and if I pursue medicine and don’t stop, then eventually I would have the chance to become a doctor again.”
Ten years later she’s on educational leave fro her job as a lab technician.
She passed the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Exam with flying colours. But every year there’s only 14 spots available in the Family Medicine Residency Program, and priority is given to Saskatchewan medical students first.
Meanwhile, at All Nations Healing Hospital staff have been trying to hire doctors since December 2010. Six years ago, the region staffed nine physicians, but today they’re struggling to get by with only two.
They have secured two more that should be here my May if they pass the entrance exams, making it an 18 month wait to hire a physician.
“Is 18 months too long? You’re absolutely right it’s too long,” said Gail Boehme, Executive Director of All Nations Healing Hospital.
She says she’s grateful for the high standards for doctors the province has put in place, but a more concise system should be looked at.
“What do we sacrifice?” she said. “Do we sacrifice the length of time to get physicians here in order to have that quality of physician coming in? I think there are some balances that need to be achieved.”
Both Boehme and He’s problems stem from a new physician assessment process the government put in place two years ago. Health Minister Don McMorris said when they launched the program they agreed to only recruit from seven countries whose medical licensing practices they trust (Australia, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States). But now that their process has been proven effective they’re only months away from expanding.
“We could open it up to other countries that train physicians,” said McMorris. “They can come in and challenge the assessment and if they pass then they’ll practice here in Saskatchewan.”
He says at that point hidden doctors who have been blocked by the system will be welcome to come forward.
“You hear of the physician driving the cab, and we want to see if that’s true,” he said. “Once it’s up and running and we have it expanded, if there are a number of physicians that want to go through the assessment we’ll make sure we’re able to accommodate them.”
It’s good news for He, but that’s still more than a year wait before she can help the growing number of patients without access to care.
Comments