URGENT! – FEDERAL ELECTION ACTION REQUIRED – YOU, YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE INVITED YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN A VIDEO CONFERENCE being organized by the Society for Canadians Studying Medicine Abroad. Key issues are outlined further down. OCTOBER 7, 2019 7 PM EST (Ontario time); 4 PM PST (British Columbia time) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/396546062 […]
Cliquez sur le lien qui suit pour avoir accès au communiqué de presse: Election federale 2019
Click on following link to access the news release: Federal Election 2019
Want to push for change? Get a petition going pressing your provincial government to make the residency recruitment system in Canada fair, objective, impartial and transparent for all Canadians and permanent residents, including Canadians who have studied medicine abroad. See petition document below and template to collect signatures. (Note: The petition has been written for […]
See powerpoint presentation below. There was a great turnout for this meeting with at least 60 persons attending. The powerpoint presentation contains a lot of valuable information. The group in attendance got quite animated when we talked about lobbying government for change. See our website for template letter. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you […]
Attention Quebec residents who study medicine abroad! Now is the time to write, call and/or meet your Quebec Member of Assembly or Minister of Health seeking her support to establish for 2020 onward a level playing field for all qualified Canadians applying for residency training in Canada. It is also an opportunity to request that […]
Ce document élabore les 7 demandes clées de SOCASMA visant à améliorer le système actuel de recrutement et de formation des résidents en médecine au Canada. SOCASMA SEVEN_francais
1,119 Canadian and permanent resident International Medical Graduates (IMGs) were unable to obtain medical residency positions in 2019. Yet, over 1,000 Saudi visa trainees are utilizing valuable and limited training resources that could be available to train Canadians. SOCASMA wrote, without success, to those federal Ministers responsible for the issuing of visa to foreign medical […]
Attention all Canadians who study medicine abroad, family members and friends! Now is the time to write, call and/or meet your provincial MPP, MLA or Minister of Health seeking their support to establish for 2020 onward a level playing field for all qualified Canadians applying for residency training in Canada. It is also an opportunity […]
This document outlines 7 key areas that SOCASMA is advocating for in order to improve the current medical residency recruitment and training system in Canada. SOCASMA SEVEN 19.07.02
URGENT! – FEDERAL ELECTION ACTION REQUIRED – YOU, YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE INVITED YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN A VIDEO CONFERENCE being organized by the Society for Canadians Studying Medicine Abroad. Key issues are outlined further down.
OCTOBER 7, 2019 7 PM EST (Ontario time); 4 PM PST (British Columbia time)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/396546062
Or
OCTOBER 8, 2019 8 PM EST (Ontario time); 5 PM PST (British Columbia time)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/902886202
Joining the Meeting or Webinar
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It is highly recommended that prior to participating in this meeting, you test your system to make sure you are able to properly use Zoom with video and audio by following the instructions on this page to Join a Test Meeting: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115002262083-Joining-a-Test-Meeting
When you join us, your audio will be muted so that noise in your background does not disturb the meeting. However, you can turn the audio on any time you want to speak by using the button at the bottom.
Look forward to seeing you.
Rosemary Pawliuk, Executive Director, SOCASMA
————————————————————————–
OCTOBER 21, 2019 FEDERAL ELECTION.
The Problem: ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE IS FAILING CANADIANS
More than 4.5 million Canadians don’t have access to family doctor. People are literally dying on waiting lists and in hospital waiting rooms. Canada ranks at the bottom or near the bottom of developed countries for access to healthcare.
The candidates in this federal election have all stated that they will address the family doctor shortage and waiting list issue in one way or another, but have not provided specifics. We will be voting for the party that promises to manage healthcare spending in a responsible way:
a. Fund residency training positions for Canadian citizens and permanent residents who
have medical degrees INSTEAD OF recruiting more foreign doctors for a short term fix;
b. Stop using our scarce training resources to train foreigners. The federal government
must reinstate a requirement for a Labour Market Impact Assessment for all foreign visa applications for doctors pursuing residency training. The LMIA requirement will force
employers to prove that there is no Canadian citizen or permanent resident who is able and willing to take the job before issuing a work visa to a foreigner seeking residency
training in Canada. Directing funding to more residency training positions is an immediate and cost-effective
solution. We don’t need to recruit more doctors from foreign countries; and taxpayers don’t need to fund expensive new medical school places and wait over 6 years for their new doctors. Canadian citizens and permanent resident medical graduates who studied medicine abroad, passed all required exams of the Medical Council of Canada, and applied for residency training in Canada can begin working as resident physicians immediately and will be fully licensed in as
little as two years. The government under the Immigration Act has an obligation to put the interest of Canadians
first: Jobs for Canadians first; training resources for Canadians first. The Immigration Act’s objective is to ensure this happens by requiring a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)
which requires that an employer proves that there is no Canadian citizen or permanent resident able and willing to take the job and that Canadian interests will not be negatively impacted before the government issues a work visa to a foreigner. But in 2010, universities convinced the
government to exempt residency training jobs from this requirement for their profit. As a result, we cannot train enough Canadians to meet the physician needs of Canadians who struggle to find a family doctor and sit on long-waiting. The government must begin enforcing the objective
of “Canadians first” set out in the Immigration Act by reinstating the LMIA requirement for residency positions so Canadians can have the benefit of doctors who will train and stay in Canada to provide the medical services Canadians need..
#socasma #SocietyofCanadianMedicalStudentsAbroad #étudiantsenmédecine #lobbyinggovernmentforchange #healthcareinCanada #Canadiandoctorsintraining
Cliquez sur le lien qui suit pour avoir accès au communiqué de presse:
Click on following link to access the news release:
Want to push for change? Get a petition going pressing your provincial government to make the residency recruitment system in Canada fair, objective, impartial and transparent for all Canadians and permanent residents, including Canadians who have studied medicine abroad. See petition document below and template to collect signatures. (Note: The petition has been written for Ontario. You can easily edit it for your own province.)
See powerpoint presentation below. There was a great turnout for this meeting with at least 60 persons attending. The powerpoint presentation contains a lot of valuable information. The group in attendance got quite animated when we talked about lobbying government for change. See our website for template letter. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions.
Powerpoint Toronto Short
Attention Quebec residents who study medicine abroad! Now is the time to write, call and/or meet your Quebec Member of Assembly or Minister of Health seeking her support to establish for 2020 onward a level playing field for all qualified Canadians applying for residency training in Canada. It is also an opportunity to request that equal access be established to compete for the same medical residency positions on the same terms for all qualified medical graduates who are Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents, including Canadian Medical School Graduates (CMGs), International Medical Graduates (IMGs) & United States Medical Graduates (USMGs), for 2020 onward. See attached template that has been prepared specifically for Quebec as the situation is slightly different than other provinces. The template letter is available in both English and French. (Click below Lobbying Template indicated in orange.) Please use this template letter, but do adapt it to your own situation. The SOCASMA SEVEN document that is referenced in the template letter is posted separately. This document outlines several areas for improvement where residency training is concerned. Again we stress the importance of writing and even better, of calling or meeting with your elected officials. Summer is a good time to meet with your MPP or MLA as they usually attend to many community functions for the purpose of connecting with their constituents and hearing about their concerns.
Lobby template Quebec
Lettre francais Quebec
Ce document élabore les 7 demandes clées de SOCASMA visant à améliorer le système actuel de recrutement et de formation des résidents en médecine au Canada.
SOCASMA SEVEN_francais
1,119 Canadian and permanent resident International Medical Graduates (IMGs) were unable to obtain medical residency positions in 2019. Yet, over 1,000 Saudi visa trainees are utilizing valuable and limited training resources that could be available to train Canadians. SOCASMA wrote, without success, to those federal Ministers responsible for the issuing of visa to foreign medical trainees. In order to press politicians to address this issue, Canadians who study medicine abroad, their parents and friends need to write, call and meet with their federal Member of Parliament, as well as all candidates in their riding for the next federal election. You can use the attached template letter and adapt it to your personal situation when writing to politicians. Together we can! (Note that a template in French will be provided within the next few weeks.)
Attention all Canadians who study medicine abroad, family members and friends! Now is the time to write, call and/or meet your provincial MPP, MLA or Minister of Health seeking their support to establish for 2020 onward a level playing field for all qualified Canadians applying for residency training in Canada. It is also an opportunity to request that equal access be established to compete for the same medical residency positions on the same terms for all qualified medical graduates who are Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents, including Canadian Medical School Graduates (CMGs), International Medical Graduates (IMGs) & United States Medical Graduates (USMGs), for 2020 onward. See attached template. (Click below Lobbying Template indicated in orange.) Please use this template letter, but do adapt it to your own situation. The SOCASMA SEVEN document that is referenced in the template letter is posted separately. This document outlines several areas for improvement where residency training is concerned. Again we stress the importance of writing and even better, of calling or meeting with your elected officials. Summer is a good time to meet with your MPP or MLA as they usually attend to many community functions for the purpose of connecting with their constituents and hearing about their concerns.
NOTE TO QUEBEC MEMBERS: As the residency recruitment system is slightly different in Quebec, we are working on a different template letter in English and in French which we will be posting in the coming week.
POUR NOS MEMBRES FRANCOPHONES DU QUÉBEC : Veuillez noter qu’un gabarit en français sera préparé d’ici une semaine. Si vous êtes francophones dans une autre province, veuillez nous faire parvenir un courriel à l’adresse suivante: socasma.working@gmail.com et nous vous feront parvenir un gabarit en français qui sera adapté à votre province.
This document outlines 7 key areas that SOCASMA is advocating for in order to improve the current medical residency recruitment and training system in Canada.