COVID-19 has introduced dramatic changes to the way people live, work, and communicate around the world. It’s also opened up some potential opportunities for internationally trained healthcare professionals to help fight this deadly virus.
Until now it’s been challenging for internationally trained healthcare professionals to use their expertise in the Canadian healthcare system, but with the overwhelming need for qualified and experienced healthcare workers, things are changing.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is currently issuing supervised short duration certificates for qualified professionals to help fill this gap. This certificate is intended to provide “on an interim basis, medical services that would otherwise be unavailable because of a lack of persons able to provide them.” Similarly, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia has added to its bylaws to allow international medical graduates to be registered under a new class of “associate physicians” in order to bring their expertise into communities. There are similar classes of registration currently in place in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.
Across the country, public health regions are stretched thin and in need of support. While this is a fluid situation, and requirements are changing frequently, there is great potential for newcomers to Canada to bring their experience forward and help communities in need of support.
We will update this post with more information as it becomes available in the coming days and weeks.