Ontario issued a record number of licenses for foreign doctors
by Harleen Kaur - May 13, 2011
Canada, 13th May: There has been a steady increase in the number of international doctors getting licenses in Ontario, states a report by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
Ontario issues record high licenses-- The report by CPSO (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario) the number of doctors getting licenses has gone up by around 20 percent since the last decade registering an increase of 3,988 physicians. And around one-third of the physicians granted licenses throughout Ontario are foreign doctors.
The Annual Registration Report by CPSO indicates that the number of licenses issue during 2010 were 3,708, which is more than the figures of 3,638 for the previous year. No wonder, this has led to an overall increased availability of doctors in Ontario, the report reveals.
Around 90 licenses were issued to doctors hailing from the US and 700 licenses were granted to physicians from other Canadian provinces, the report findings state. And out of the total doctors getting licenses from Ontario, around 37 percent happen to from Ontario itself while 41 percent are foreign trained physicians, the report maintains.
Factors behind increase in number of foreign physicians in Ontario--According to president of the CPSO, Dr. Lynne Thurling, several factors have contributed to the steady inflow of foreign medical graduates to work as doctors in Ontario.
These included programs and policies of the college, support of the government as well as other partners have together brought good results for Ontario, added Dr. Thurling, who works as a Psychiatrist in Fergus, Ontario.
In addition, factors like increasing residency positions and higher number of enrolments at various Canadian universities have led to an increased number of licenses issued to physicians this year. The current wave of higher number of doctors in Ontario are going to fill the shortage of physicians felt for quite some time now, Dr. Thurling stated adding that the process goes on with similar efforts from the government.
According to president of Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Jeffrey Turnbull, the changes are the result of informed and thoughtful decision for increasing the number of medical graduates from Canadian medical institutes and to allow maximum number of foreign doctors into Canada.
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