Student Information Meeting for Canadian and American Match. December 27, 2024 at 3 p.m. Pacific (4 pm. Mountain; 6 pm Eastern) Via Zoom SOCASMA will be hosting an information/strategy meeting for IMGs looking to get and share information and strategies for the Canadian and American Matches. Before the meeting we will send you information which […]
Here is link for this morning’s AGM Time: Dec 16, 2023 09:00 AM Vancouver Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82883192702?pwd=cU92WGFIbTBGRWJaOWRRQXNiSllEUT09 Meeting ID: 828 8319 2702 Passcode: 806276 One tap mobile +13462487799,,82883192702#,,,,*806276# US (Houston) +13602095623,,82883192702#,,,,*806276# US Dial by your location +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 360 209 5623 US +1 386 347 5053 US […]
NOTICE of ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING for CANADIANS STUDYING MEDICINE ABROAD , IMGs, FAMILIES AND FRIENDS. Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023 Time: 9:00 a.m. PACIFIC TIME (Vancouver) or noon Eastern time Place: Zoom: SEE LINK BELOW This is an opportunity to get the latest in what is happening with the structure of the Match. In addition, […]
SOCASMA is looking for IMGs who are qualified and prepared to work in the Associate Physician categories that have been enacted in BC. HPA-Bylaws.pdf (cpsbc.ca) sections 2-25, 2-26, and 2-27. The associate physician enactment of 2020 has only resulted in one registrant to January 2023. More and more licensed physicians are coming to realize that […]
RCPSC Exams? Please complete this survey. Just 5 minutes of your time! The quality, effectiveness, and efficacy of the process and the RCPSC exams themselves is an issue that needs to be considered, not just by those who design them, but through the experience of those who take them. We need the input of CMGs, CSAs, […]
STUDENT INFORMATION MEETING FOR CANADIAN AND AMERICAN MATCHES. December 28, 2022 at 9 a.m. Pacific; 10 a.m. Mountain; noon Eastern Via Zoom SOCASMA will be hosting an information/strategy meeting for IMGs looking to get and share information and strategies for the Canadian and American Matches. Before the meeting we will send you information which you […]
A big part of SOCASMA’s work is advocating for equality for IMGs. We advocate in the public sphere, in the political sphere, in administrative fairness organizations, and in the courts. There is increasing awareness and concern about the inequality IMGs face in Canada in accessing the medical profession. MOSAIC, BC’s largest immigrant services organization and […]
Summary of Discrimination IMGs face in the Medical Profession Canadians who graduated from international medical schools are oppressed and by any objective definition second class citizens in Canada. The government in a free and democratic country such as Canada, by law, must treat all its members equally. While it is fair to require Canadian citizens […]
How the System Works. CMG: graduates of Canadian and American medical schools IMGs: graduates of international medical schools To become licensed to practice medicine one must: Have a medical degree from a school on the World Directory of Medical Schools; 2. Worked in entry level job in medicine called residency training or postgraduate […]
Physician Shortage Is there a doctor shortage in Canada? About 5 million Canadians cannot find a family physician. We wait months to see a specialist. People experiencing severe mental illness generally wait months and in some cases over a year to see a psychiatrist. We wait months and even years for surgery. However, it is […]
Student Information Meeting for Canadian and American Match.
December 27, 2024 at 3 p.m. Pacific (4 pm. Mountain; 6 pm Eastern)
Via Zoom
SOCASMA will be hosting an information/strategy meeting for IMGs looking to get and share information and strategies for the Canadian and American Matches.
Before the meeting we will send you information which you will likely find helpful to the match processes. This meeting is relevant to students at all levels who want to match to a residency position.
We will have CSAs who have negotiated the Canadian Match provide advice and answer questions, but hope that everyone present will share their concerns, experiences, and advice.
We invite those who have navigated the match to join us as well to pass on your wisdom. All IMGs and supporters of IMGs are welcome.
TO ATTEND, please message us on Facebook or email us at socasma@outlook.com. We need your name and email address to send you the resource material and Zoom link prior to the meeting.
Please send any issues you would like us to focus on or questions you wish addressed.
Here is link for this morning’s AGM
Time: Dec 16, 2023 09:00 AM Vancouver
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82883192702?pwd=cU92WGFIbTBGRWJaOWRRQXNiSllEUT09
Meeting ID: 828 8319 2702
Passcode: 806276
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,82883192702#,,,,*806276# US (Houston)
+13602095623,,82883192702#,,,,*806276# US
Dial by your location
Meeting ID: 828 8319 2702
Passcode: 806276
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kb3iwg9ZSw
NOTICE of ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING for CANADIANS STUDYING MEDICINE ABROAD , IMGs, FAMILIES AND FRIENDS.
Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023
Time: 9:00 a.m. PACIFIC TIME (Vancouver) or noon Eastern time
Place: Zoom: SEE LINK BELOW
This is an opportunity to get the latest in what is happening with the structure of the Match.
In addition, to conducting the business meeting, we will update you on matters of concern related to
becoming licensed in Canada including:
Updates in the CaRMS Match process
Updates in the court challenge to the discrimination we face in access to licensing.
Planning an information meeting in late December: Strategizing to Match in Canada or the US
Facilitating return home after training in another country including RCPSC certification exams
The 2023 Directors Report is available to IMGs and their families on request from socasma@outlook.com.
MEDICAL STUDENTS- PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR SCHOOL AND OTHER SCHOOLS AND FORWARD IT TO YOUR CANADIAN CLASSMATES. ENCOURAGE YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO ATTEND THE MEETING.
Please RSVP socasma@outlook.com or message us on Facebook (Society for Canadians Studying Medicine Abroad) if you plan to attend the meeting, together with any questions or requests that you would like discussed at the meeting.
#socasma; #Canadians Studying Medicine Society for Canadians Studying Medicine Abroad; #IMG
Topic: SOCASMA AGM
Time: Dec 16, 2023 9:00 a.m. Vancouver or noon time Eastern time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82883192702…
Meeting ID: 828 8319 2702
Passcode: 806276
—
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,82883192702#,,,,*806276# US (Houston)
+13602095623,,82883192702#,,,,*806276# US
—
Dial by your location
• +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
• +1 360 209 5623 US
• +1 386 347 5053 US
• +1 507 473 4847 US
• +1 564 217 2000 US
• +1 646 931 3860 US
• +1 669 444 9171 US
• +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
• +1 689 278 1000 US
• +1 719 359 4580 US
• +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
• +1 253 205 0468 US
• +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
• +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
• +1 305 224 1968 US
• +1 309 205 3325 US
• +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 828 8319 2702
Passcode: 806276
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kb3iwg9ZSw
RCPSC Exams? Please complete this survey. Just 5 minutes of your time!
The quality, effectiveness, and efficacy of the process and the RCPSC exams themselves is an issue that needs to be considered, not just by those who design them, but through the experience of those who take them.
We need the input of CMGs, CSAs, and other IMGs, those who are just preparing and those who have taken them, those who have succeeded and those who have not, those who recently took the exams and those who took them a long time ago…
Please take 5 minutes to complete the attached anonymous survey. Please also distribute this survey to any colleagues who you know who prepared for, took, or are otherwise involved with RCPSC exams.
Click below to complete the survey. Click the “Submit” button at the end of the survey to submit. Thank you for your help and support.
This survey is being conducted by the Society for Canadians Studying Medicine Abroad. If you have questions, please contact us at: socasma@outlook.com.
Click HERE to take the survey. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOhI10btGhZ8iCQQs63g-HSMBYk8lgW-VY8IY-6aTYItx0cw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0
STUDENT INFORMATION MEETING FOR CANADIAN AND AMERICAN MATCHES.
December 28, 2022 at 9 a.m. Pacific; 10 a.m. Mountain; noon Eastern
Via Zoom
SOCASMA will be hosting an information/strategy meeting for IMGs looking to get and share information and strategies for the Canadian and American Matches.
Before the meeting we will send you information which you will likely find helpful to the match processes. This meeting is relevant to students at all levels in the process.
CSAs who have negotiated the Canadian and American Match will provide their advice and answer questions.
We hope that everyone present will share their concerns, experiences, and advice.
We invite those who have navigated the match to join us as well to pass on your wisdom. Supporters of IMGs are also welcome.
TO ATTEND, please message us on Facebook or email us at socasma@outlook.com. We need your name and email address to send you the resource material and Zoom link prior to the meeting.
Your year of medical school or PGT would also be helpful in our planning. Please send any issues you would like us to focus on or questions you wish addressed.
Summary of Discrimination IMGs face in the Medical Profession
Canadians who graduated from international medical schools are oppressed and by any objective definition second class citizens in Canada.
The government in a free and democratic country such as Canada, by law, must treat all its members equally.
While it is fair to require Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are international medical graduates to prove that they meet the Canadian standard of medical education, it is illegal and oppressive to deny them the right to compete for jobs, especially government-funded jobs, once they have met the Canadian standard by passing the requisite exams.
Working as a resident physician is for Canadians who studied abroad and for many immigrants the only route to becoming licensed in medicine.
The Discrimination
After proving themselves qualified to work as resident physicians, graduates of international medical schools (IMGs) across Canada are:
2. Denied the ability to compete for 90% of resident physician jobs in Canada
3. Denied the ability to access most disciplines in most provinces.
4. Denied the ability to subspecialize in some provinces.
5. IMGs can only work as resident physicians if they sign a contract where they “agree” to work where the government directs them for a specified number of years after they are fully licensed.
6. IMGs must meet a higher standard of medical knowledge than CMGs or visa trainees to work as resident physicians.
Why is discrimination government-sanctioned?
Those in the medical system who created and enforce systemic discrimination in access to medical licensing benefit from this system.
Only international medical graduates and the public fail to benefit from this system.
The system prohibits licensed physicians who select who will be hired to work as a resident physician, from considering all qualified applicants and choosing the best.
The system is designed to ensure that every graduate of a Canadian medical school, no matter how weak, is licensed to practice medicine.
This is accomplished by privileging and protecting CMGs by prohibiting competition which prevents strong graduates of international medical schools from displacing weak graduates of Canadian and American medical schools.
Selection is based on place of education, not individual knowledge, skills, nor characteristics best suited to the positions.
Provincial Ministries of Health
In Canada health care is universal and provincial ministries of health have complete control over Canadian citizens and permanent residents seeking residency training jobs, and hence licensure. The provincial ministries’ goals are:
Faculties of Medicine. The goals of the Faculties of Medicine are:
Medical Profession in General
How the System Works.
CMG: graduates of Canadian and American medical schools
IMGs: graduates of international medical schools
To become licensed to practice medicine one must:
2. Worked in entry level job in medicine called residency training or postgraduate medical training for a designated number of years depending on the specialty. Postgraduate training is imposed by regulatory authorities to ensure that medical graduates have enough practical experience to ensure public safety before being fully licensed. In all countries except Canada and the USA, postgraduate medical training is administered by medical institutions such as hospitals overseen by the regulatory authorities. In Canada and the United States since 1993 postgraduate training has been administered solely by Faculties of Medicine of universities. It was when Faculties of Medicine were granted a monopoly over postgraduate training that they imposed rules which protected graduates of Canadian and American medical schools from competition. (Conflict of interest?)
3. Pass the certification examinations of the national colleges to ensure that their knowledge, skills, and experience meets the national standards. For family physicians the College of Family Physicians of Canada determines the process and standards necessary to be certified. In the specialties, it is the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.
4. Licensure by the provincial regulatory authorities, i.e., Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons or in the case of the territories, Medical Councils.
All developed countries have a similar process for licensing.
Canadians who study medicine abroad generally want to come home, but they need to work as resident physicians in order to be licensed. They are denied a fair opportunity to compete for resident physician jobs due to discrimination described in the discrimination document. As a result, the majority do their postgraduate training in other countries, primarily Australia, the United States, the UK, and Ireland. Barriers are set up at the certification level to prevent CSAs from coming home.
Immigrant physicians have generally graduated, completed postgraduate training, been certified and licensed and practiced medicine in their country of origin.
By rules established by the regulatory authorities, immigrants from countries such as UK, United States, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand do not have to retake their postgraduate training. Their postgraduate training is recognized.
However, the training and experience of immigrants from all but a few countries is not recognized. So they must obtain postgraduate training positions. The system of discrimination attached prevents most of them from ever becoming licensed.
The explanation commonly given by the medical establishment for IMGs not being licensed is that their credentials are not recognized, and they would be a public safety risk. However, Medical Council of Canada for more than a decade has delivered examinations which enable these immigrants to prove that they have the medical knowledge and clinical skills expected of a graduate of a Canadian medical school. Thousands of IMGs in Canada have proven their credentials and that they meet the Canadian standard but are unable to practice due to pathways of licensure being designed to restrict the number of physicians who can be licensed in Canada.
In some provinces, a small number of some immigrant physicians, depending on the length of training in their country of origin, can apply to work under a Practice Ready Assessment program. Ontario does not have a Practice Ready Assessment program.
How do medical graduates apply for residency training positions?
Canadian citizens and permanent residents can only apply for residency position positions through a national match called the CaRMS Match. This method of selection was requested by the graduates of Canadian medical schools. At first the Match was open to all qualified Canadians. But in 1993 when the Faculties of Medicine across Canada became the only institutions authorized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons to administer residency positions, they immediately set up segregation to protect access to these entry level jobs mandatory for licensing for CMGs with only leftover positions being available to IMGs.
Who Makes the rules that segregate and restrict IMGs from competing for jobs for which they are qualified?
The official answer is that it is a collaboration between various organizations in the medical establishment. However, when all these entities were recently were sued in British Columbia, everyone denied responsibility for the rules which marginalize IMGs. Only the Ministry of Health did not deny responsibility. Thus, it is the Ministry of Health which makes the rules.
Legally the only legislative body with authority to make these rules in a province is the College of Physicians and Surgeons in respect to standards necessary to be licensed to practice medicine.
Data re Physician shortage
The number of residency training positions has been decreasing for IMGs. In 2013 there were 348 positions dedicated for IMGs in all of Canada. In 2021, there were 322, a decrease of 26 positions. Although CMG positions have been increasing over time for the most part, in 2021 there was a decrease from 3072 to 3043 for CMGs and from 325 to 322 for IMGs.
In BC there were a total of 349 residency positions. IMGs can only apply for 58 of those despite meeting the Canadian standard.
In BC, in the 2020/21 year there were 515 resignations, but only a total of 349 resident physician positions plus approximately 30 PRA positions in family medicine which means in BC there were 136 more resignations than new physicians.
Shortfalls such as this have been filled in the past by hiring physicians from approved jurisdictions such as UK, Ireland, South Africa, USA, Australia, and New Zealand. But on November 30, 2021, the RCPSC advised us that they would be eliminating the approved jurisdiction route. This has significant repercussions to an already critical physician shortage. The RCPSC states that they are working to create an alternative.
Training IMGs puts junior physicians in place immediately.
Fiscally, it is 10 times less expensive to train IMGs than to educate and train CMGs. (University of Canada Economics Department)
Canada trains twice as many visa trainees who are under contract to leave the country when they complete postgraduate training than they train Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are IMGs. The data is set out below.
Comparing Access to Licensing in Canada for Canadian IMGs vs. Gulf State IMGs
Overview of resident physicians in residency training in Canada in 2018/19 (published by the CMA)
Resident physicians in training (all years with programs 2-7 years in length) 16,508
Ministry-funded positions for Canadians 12,906
Canadian CMGs 11,174 86.6% of Canadians
Canadian IMGs 1,732 13.4% of Canadians
12,906 100% of Canadians
Non-Canadians (visa trainees) in residency training (2X+ as many as Canadian IMGs) 3,602
Non-Canadians (visa trainees) who return to Canada within 5 years of completing training 53.6%
CAPER and CaRMS Data for last 2 years
In 2019/20 in Canada there were 640 visa trainees. In 2020/21 there were 699 visa trainees, an increase of 59 visa trainees. YearOverYear_Compare_EN.pdf (caper.ca)
In 2019/20 there were 325 residency positions allowed for Canadian IMGs. In 2020/21 this was reduced to 322. Between 2013 and 2021 there was a reduction of 26 positions for Canadian IMGs. PowerPoint Presentation (carms.ca) Slide 19.
Physician Shortage
Is there a doctor shortage in Canada? About 5 million Canadians cannot find a family physician. We wait months to see a specialist. People experiencing severe mental illness generally wait months and in some cases over a year to see a psychiatrist. We wait months and even years for surgery.
However, it is an uncontroversial fact that there are literally thousands of medical doctors in Canada who have met the Canadian standard by passing the Medical Council of Canada examinations. The problem is that our government has erected barriers which prevent them from becoming licensed to practice.
These barriers accord with the government’s fiscal policy. In the early 1990s Canadian provinces adopted the Barer Stoddart economic theory of health care management: If we control the number of physicians, we control public access to health care, and thus we control health care spending.
In Canada, the correct number of physicians is not related to public need. It is a simple matter of dividing the provincial allocation of the health care budget for physicians by the average cost of a physicians.
When the Barer Stoddart economic theory was adopted by provincial ministries of health, the number of physicians that Canada trained dropped dramatically.
Because we have a government controlled universal health care system, it is a simple thing for the government to control the number of physicians by controlling the gateways to licensing.
Allow me to explain: Most immigrant physicians and all new medical graduates must work in entry level jobs as resident physicians before they can become fully licensed to work in Canada.
The provincial ministries of health control the number of these residency positions for the purpose of controlling the number of physicians who can become licensed to practice.
The provincial ministries of health have a monopoly over the residency training required for Canadians (whether born or immigrated here) to become licensed. There is a government report which states that there are municipalities, community groups, and large corporations who are so desperate for physicians that they would fund residency training positions. But this is not allowed. If it were, the government would lose control of being able to control the number of licensed physicians.
I would like to provide you with some data. I am going to use BC as my example.
Last year (2020/2021 year), 515 physicians stopped practicing medicine in BC.
Last year BC funded the training of 349 new resident physicians. In addition, about 30 immigrant physicians were individually assessed to practice as family physicians. This allows licensing of 379 new physicians. Thus, BC was short by 136 if our only goal was to replace those physicians who stopped practicing last year.
Because of additional demand caused by COVID, logically we would expect the ministries would be training more physicians considering physician burnout and physicians and other health professionals predicting the collapse of our medical system because of professional shortages.
But that did not happen. For the year before last (2019/2020 year) (with the decision-making being before COVID) BC funded 352 resident physician positions. So, after COVID, the BC Ministry of Health decided to cut 3 residency training positions. Across Canada last year, the number was reduced by 32.
This is predictable, when viewed from the fiscal management theory from which Canadian health care operates. Although the government presents a narrative that it is working to meet Canadian health care needs, this narrative is created to assuage the public for political reasons. The narrative in fact is contradicted by facts.
Last year across all Canada there were 1831 Canadian citizens and permanent residents who met or exceeded the minimum Canadian standard who applied to work as resident physicians in Canada. Because the ministries of health and faculties of medicine segregate and restrict Canadians who graduated from international medical schools to a small number of positions, only 410 are working as physicians today. Working as a resident physician is a pre-requisite to becoming fully licensed for all new graduates and most immigrant physicians. In 2021, 1421 Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are qualified and applied to work are not practicing because of government fiscal policy to restrict the number of physicians who can be licensed. Many other qualified applicants have given up trying to get these entry level positions because the costs related to application are great and the chances of success slight. This barrier is not related to competence; it is a function of the government only allowing a trickle of physicians into the licensing pathway. Studies report that many of these physicians who have met the Canadian standard to work as resident physicians are literally driving taxis.
****
The fact is that our health care system is grossly mismanaged, and the glaze the government puts on this subject is political, not factual.
It is not accurate that immigrant physicians and Canadians who studied medicine abroad are not licensed because they have not had their credentials recognized nor that they are a threat to public safety. Objective evidence demonstrates that graduates of Canadian and American medical schools are held to a lower standard when applying for entry level jobs than those who graduated from international schools.
The fact is that the physician shortage Canadians experience is a function of the government barricading the door to thousands of qualified physicians. The barricades are a function of the fiscal management policy practiced by our government.
Canada’s health care system consistently ranks at or near the bottom of developed countries. We are the 4th last in number of ICU beds out of 36 developed countries. We ranked 7th last in ratio of physicians to population. We consistently have the longest waiting lists.
Despite “universal” health care 17% of Canadians report that the cost of health care is a barrier to care.
For comparison, Germany is a country that spends about the same amount as Canada on universal health care. Germany has about 75 million people (compared to Canada’s 38 million) and is one of the top-rated health care systems in the world compared to Canada which is consistently rated as having one of the worst systems in the world. Canada has 2.7 physicians and 1.4 government administrators per 1000 people. By comparison Germany has 4.25 physicians and 0.15 administrators per 1000. Although Germany and Canada spend essentially the same, Germany has more family physicians, more specialists, more acute care beds, more psychiatric beds, and far surpasses Canada in its inventory of diagnostic equipment. Where Canada excels is in the number of administrators: we have 10 times as many administrators as Germany.