Make it easier for doctors to practise here
A recent letter about investing outside Canada to get new doctors struck a loud chord with me.
My daughter is a physician practising in the United States, having gone to medical school outside of Canada due to limited placements in B.C., and subsequently completing a fellowship in Boston.
As a parent, I had hopes that despite the physician shortage in many disciplines, my daughter could find an avenue to practise in B.C.
Through my work within the Lower Mainland health authorities, I was acutely aware of the recruitment difficulties to fill physician vacancies. In this context I had a discussion with a physician-recruitment group to learn about existing recruitment practices.
It seemed that efforts were focused on job fairs where health agencies across Canada competed against each other for physicians. I also learned that for…