November 18, 2005
Foreign Trained Doctors’ Residency Spots Set to Triple
Burnaby – The decision by the BC Government to invest an additional $1.65 million towards tripling the number of residency spaces for foreign trained doctors to 18 by 2006 is being applauded by Burnaby MLAs John Nuraney and Harry Bloy.
“I am very pleased the Ministry of Health is taking action on this issue,” said Bloy. “I have long advocated on behalf of my constituents to increase the number of residency spaces available for foreign trained doctors. This announcement builds on our commitment to preserving and enhancing British Columbia’s universal health care system.”
Six of these 12 additional spaces will be reserved for family practice. The other six spaces will be designated, for the first time, towards specialist residencies including internal medicine, general surgery, psychiatry, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology and family medicine.
The BC Government will also fund the $800 cost of taking the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), eliminating a costly barrier foreign trained doctor’s face in the assessment process.
“Over the past three years, this issue has been raised by many of my constituents, especially health care professionals,” said Nuraney. After bringing these concerns to Victoria, I am very pleased to see these changes going through. Right now there are qualified foreign trained doctors living in Burnaby who have anxiously been waiting for this announcement to happen. Upon certification, I hope many will open their practices right here in our community.”
The expansion will afford increased opportunities for applicants to fill these spaces including:
* An increase in the number of OSCE tests from 45 to 70.
* An increase in the number of candidates entering orientation and assessment from nine to 35. Of this number, 12 will enter a family practice residency and six will enter a residency in one of the foundational specialties.
In order to fast-track the process, orientation and assessment will be reduced to 14 weeks from the current seven week evaluation and six month pre-residency. With all the changes implemented, foreign trained doctors will be able to sit their credentialing exams in as little as two years and 14 weeks - a reduction of 17 weeks.
Increasing the number of practising foreign trained doctors was the result of an agreement struck at the First Ministers’ meeting in September 2004, with provincial action plans to be made known by the end of 2005.
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