Author Archives: Karen

1. FAQ: Residency Selection Process

   February 18, 2014 5:21 am Comments Off on FAQ: Residency Selection Process

   Who controls the residency selection process? 

   Residency selection determines who will be able to practice medicine in Canada. Since 1993, the Ministries of Health and the Provincial Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons have allowed the Canadian universities to control residency selection. In 1993 the universities took control of training all new physicians. The universities organize Canada’s licensed physicians to provide on-the-job-training for medical graduates.

2. FAQ: Medical Resident

   5:16 am Comments Off on FAQ: Medical Resident

   What is a medical resident?
   After medical school, graduates have to work in training positions called medical residencies before they can become fully licensed.  They are hired by the provincial Ministries of Health to work as resident physicians, ie, apprentice physicians.  Resident physicians are an important cog in the medical wheel.  They are not the most trained or knowledgeable, but they work the most.  They work as much as 80 hours per week.  They examine patients, take medical histories, reach diagnoses and prescribe treatment, under the supervision of medical staff.  The supervisor is not present during the majority of the time they are in direct contact with patients.  They write orders for treatment and prescribe drugs.  They face life or death situations.  Resident physicians take on more and more complex work and responsibility as they gain experience.  As they approach the end of their residency, there is little to distinguish what they do from what their designated supervisors do.

3. FAQ: Acronyms

   5:13 am Comments Off on FAQ: Acronyms

   This is a list of the commonly used acronyms used by SOCASMA:

   CaRMS – Canadian Resident Matching Service
   CPSBC – College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC
   FOM – Faculty of Medicine
   LCME – Liaison Committee of Medical Education
   MCCEE – Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination
   NAC  – National Assessment Collaboration
   NBME – National Board of Medical Examiners (U.S.)
   OSCE – Objective Structured Clinical Examination
   USMLE – United States Medical License Exam

4. Canadian Students Studying Medicine in Poland

   February 11, 2014 8:04 am Comments Off on Canadian Students Studying Medicine in Poland

   Check out the 2013 report of the Canadian Medical Students in Poland Association (CMSPA) here.

5. Access to Licensure for BC

   7:57 am Comments Off on Access to Licensure for BC

   The document Solutions to Access is a  report on the access to licensure in regulated professions from internationally trained professionals in BC.

6. Match Results: Irish Match results 2013

   7:36 am Comments Off on Match Results: Irish Match results 2013

   Find out  the 2013 match results for International Medical Graduates from the Irish medical universities.  Click here to see the report.

7. Match Results: American IMG Match Outcomes 2013

   7:28 am Comments Off on Match Results: American IMG Match Outcomes 2013

   Find out the 2013 charting outcomes in the match of International Medical Graduates from the United States. Click here to see the complete report.

8. Document: Road to Return

   January 31, 2014 5:48 am Comments Off on Document: Road to Return

   Road to Return: B.C. Medical Students Abroad is a comprehensive paper about how the current medical residency selection process works and SOCASMA’s position in regard to that.

9. In the news: B.C. medical specialists struggle to find work

   4:49 am Comments Off on In the news: B.C. medical specialists struggle to find work

   Can’t find a job?  Can’t find a doctor?   Faced with these conditions, it might seem paradoxical that doctors in B.C. are facing unemployment problems.   Vancouver Sun  reporter Pamela Fayerman reports on the reasons here.

10. Do you know: How UBC addresses the doctor shortage?

    4:39 am Comments Off on Do you know: How UBC addresses the doctor shortage?

     

     

     

    On December 11,  Dr. Evert Tuyp addressed the doctor shortage in a letter to the editor of Vancouver Sun.  The series of letters below demonstrate how UBC is responding to the shortage and how its policy fails to address the shortage. Click the boxes to read more: