Foreign medical specialists not getting jobs in Canada

Canada, 20th September: Foreign medical specialists in various fields are not finding work in Canada despite a high demand for such professionals in the nation.

Contradictory it may seem, but it’s a fact. Patients suffering from cancer in Canada still need to wait for a month or so before getting an appointment with the concerned medical specialist. On the other hand, many trained doctors in oncology are facing tough times in finding work for which there is a high demand.

Long waiting lists but no employment for fresh trained doctors—The list of unemployed doctors with fresh training is long and endless. Its not just unemployment for newly trained doctors but a high rate of underemployment too, medical organizations in Canada admit.

In fact, those on the list of high unemployment specialties of Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons include orthopedics, nephrology, oncology, cardiac surgery, plastic surgery, otolaryngology, neurosurgery and public health and preventive medicine.

According to 36-year-old physician who has just completed his five-year tenure of radiation oncology residency, Dr. Shaun Loewen, the long list of unemployment is extremely frustrating. Dr. Loewen expresses his eagerness to start giving treatment to the patients in Canada.

But, he says it is very unfortunate that despite having skills and qualifications to do so, he can’t get work. If the scene does not show any improvement, many including Dr. Loewen will feel compelled to seek employment opportunities abroad.

No money to recruit medical specialists—Several experts have tracked the problem to lack of funds with health regions and hospitals. Paucity of cash is not allowing hospitals in Canada to hire medical specialists in different fields even though provincial governments have been investing to provide training to an increased number of specialists in different fields of medicine due to an ever-growing demand for such professionals.

Apart from cash-crunch, there seems to be some sort of disconnection between the demand for doctors and the inability to provide related employment to such specialists. It’s really paradoxical, admits the health policy director of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Findings of a recent survey by the Royal College reveal the number of newly trained medical specialists compelled to accept temporary or part-time jobs or get back to sub-specialty training after failing to get full time work as doctors is said to be one in five.

It would be shameful if recent medical graduates, after failing to find employment as medical specialists in Canada, choose to move overseas forever.