Province approves regulation changes to lure U.S. docs to Manitoba
More U.S.-trained physicians are expected to join the Manitoba workforce, following provincial efforts to streamline recruitment amid an ongoing doctor shortage.
The Manitoba government approved a change to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba regulations, forging a path for U.S. doctors to apply for full licensure if they meet certain requirements.
The change means physicians no longer have to apply for provisional registration before they can obtain full licenses — eliminating the need for 'supervisors, assessments, and practice location restrictions, which can be costly and time consuming,' the college said, announcing the change in a statement Thursday.
Doctors Manitoba president Nichelle Desilets said she's excited to see the recruitment push for U.S. physicians.
(Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)
'We looked at our regulations in Manitoba and designed a new path to licensure that would benefit both the province and U.S. physicians looking to relocate,' Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk, college registrar and CEO said.
'Our goal is to have the proper requirements in place so that only people who are safe to practise can do so, but we also don't want requirements that create unnecessary barriers.'
To qualify, the doctors must have completed an accredited residency program, and possess relevant certification and licenses in the U.S.
Medical regulators in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia have similar provisions in place. Manitoba's amendment took effect on May 30, the college said.
Doctors Manitoba publicly advocated for the change last November, when it launched advertisements in medical magazines and newsletters appealing to U.S. doctors.
The campaign targeted health-care providers in North Dakota, Florida and other states where abortion and gender-affirming care had become politicized issues during Donald Trump's presidential run.
The materials market Manitoba's low cost of living, competitive pay, friendly reputation, universal health-care coverage and a culture of putting trust and value in both doctors and medical evidence.
Wednesdays
Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences.
In March, Shared Health launched a similar recruitment campaign aimed at health-care workers in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
'We are excited to see that our work to appeal to U.S. physicians, dismayed with the political and financial uncertainties posed by the current administration, has inspired our partners who are making concrete changes to our health system,' Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Nichelle Desilets said in a news release Thursday.
Doctors Manitoba said the number of physicians in Manitoba has grown, but national reporting shows the province still has the second fewest physicians per capita in Canada.
It will continue to call for more training, recruitment and retention efforts, the news release said.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler SearleReporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press's city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic's creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
3 days ago
- CBC
Doctors Manitoba cheers changes to help U.S. physicians relocate to province
Regulatory changes intended to make it easier for U.S.-based physicians to relocate and practice in Manitoba are being loudly applauded by an advocacy group in the province. "We're really excited about it. Manitoba has one of the worst doctor shortages in the country, and as practising physicians, we see the consequences of this every day," said Doctors Manitoba president Nichelle Desilets. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba and the provincial government recently took steps to streamline the process for qualified physicians from the United States to be granted a full licence to practice in the province, provided they meet certain requirements. They have to first complete an accredited residency program, have certification from the American Board of Medical Specialists and have a licence from a U.S. state medical board. "The training that American physicians undergo is very similar to a Canadian physician. I would even say nearly identical," said Desilets, who practises in Neepawa. "There is much more in common than there is different." Processes the government and college have agreed to remove include things like requiring supervisors and formal assessments, and restrictions on where a new doctor can practise — which can all be costly and time-consuming. Doctors Manitoba advocated for such changes more than a year ago, Desilets said. "Manitoba has been behind in making these changes, so it's really great to see that we're catching up on that," Desilets said. B.C., Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I. have already simplified the process, she said. It's also important to underscore the fact that none of the changes will compromise the quality of patient care, she said. "The public should still be reassured that there is still a rigorous process making sure that every doctor that practises in Manitoba is qualified to do so and has been vetted by our college." The province has also followed the lead of Doctors Manitoba by launching recruitment campaigns in the U.S. The provincial government is targeting health-care workers in the nearby states of Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, touting Manitoba's strengths and priorities, including safe and inclusive communities, good schools, strong social supports and comparable affordability with a high quality of life. Doctors Manitoba had ramped up its own recruitment efforts late last year with a similar message in an effort to appeal to physicians in search of stability and respect after Donald Trump was elected U.S. president. "We have the privilege of working in an environment where the government doesn't generally get in between us and our patients, so that was the kind of the selling point that we brought," Desilets said. "We're grateful to see that our public advocacy efforts were able to influence government stakeholders and our own regulatory college to take a look at all of the requirements and to kind of take our lead." She couldn't say, though, if the efforts have prompted anyone to relocate north of the border. "As a front-line working doctor, I wouldn't be privy to that knowledge, but we do know that our office has had people reach out to inquire about the process and what the work environment looks like," Desilets said. "Despite the flaws in our health-care system, and I acknowledge that there are many of them, I am safe when I go to work, I know that the government is going to pay me for the services that I provide to patients, and I know that I have an organization that backs me and my colleagues up when we go to work every day." Doctors Manitoba will continue to promote those benefits through its own recruitment efforts in news media interviews, advertisements, and the website ManitobaMD.com. While the push to open the door more to American doctors is welcome, it's only one aspect of addressing the shortage, Desilets said. The barriers between provinces need to be dealt with, as well. "Even though people expect health care to be nationally available to them, it's still administered on a provincial level. So this is a barrier to recruiting physicians to Manitoba, no matter where you're coming from," she said. "The fact that we don't have enough doctors to serve our population is a multi-pronged challenge. There's not one golden answer … and we're going to continue to advocate. We need more doctors, we need more specialists."
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
First Nations take steps to reduce wildfire risk
First Nations take steps to reduce wildfire risk Heading into peak wildfire season, several First Nations across B.C. have already taken steps to reduce the risk to their communities.
Vancouver Sun
3 days ago
- Vancouver Sun
Dilawri Foundation makes historic $60-million donation to VGH, UBC
Four and a half years ago, Ajay Dilawri's father, Ram Dilawri, began experiencing heart troubles. The Dilawris, founders of Dilawri Automotive Group, the largest automotive dealership in Canada, immediately began consulting with experts at leading heart institutes across the U.S. and around the world, most of whom recommended complex open-heart surgery. 'My father was looking for another, less-frightening option,' said Dilawri. Then they heard about Dr. David Wood, head of the division of cardiology at Vancouver General Hospital and the UBC Hospital. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'We heard that if anyone could save my father's life without open heart surgery, it would be him.' Wood saved his father's life, according to Dilwari, and compelled the family to 'pay that gratitude forward'. And so, on Thursday, a record $60-million donation to the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation to establish the Dilawri Cardiovascular Institute was announced. The donation, a gift from the Dilawri Automotive Group's charitable foundation, is the largest in VGH and UBC Hospital history, and will fund the new institute, led by Wood. 'Like so many families, ours has been personally touched by heart disease,' said Dilawri. 'It's a cause that hits close to home.' Wood's vision, of a leading cardiovascular institute in Vancouver, was bold. 'Why can't we create the Mayo Clinic of the North right here in Vancouver?' Wood said at Thursday's event. Some $35 million of the donation will be dedicated to help fund a proposed new multi-use tower at Oak Street and West 12th Avenue, and $25 million will be available immediately for an innovation fund to establish a national cardiovascular research and clinical care network with partner sites throughout Europe and the U.S. Wood said the institute will have 15 centres that will be ready to treat patients immediately, and will include centres for Indigenous heart health, women's heart health, youth heart health, and core research areas such as a centre for AI, data science and imaging, as well as the centre for cardiovascular innovation. 'We are going to transform how we care for patients. Replacing heart valves on patients, and going home three hours later — using new technologies to treat heart rhythm problems before they become permanent, so you can go on to live a long and healthy life, minimally invasive heart surgery using robots and small incisions,' said Wood. Wood said the Dilawri Cardiovascular Institute will function on a 'hub and spoke' model, with research and treatment partnerships across North America and Europe, and will 'disrupt' the long distance between research and the implementation of new treatments. The donation is also the largest in the history of the Dilawri Foundation, which has supported Hospital For Sick Kids in Toronto since 2012 through the Dilawri Patient Amenities Endowment Fund, and the Dilawri Patients, Populations and Policy Research Neighbourhood. Patriarch Ram Dilawri, a trained mechanic, immigrated to Canada in the 1980s, where he did a number of jobs while bringing up three sons including Ajay, who was born and raised in Ottawa. The three brothers, Kap, Tony and Ajay, were entrepreneurial, and got their first opportunity in business in 1984 when they purchased a Honda dealership in Regina with their father. The dealership had a service station and a tiny two-car showroom, but became the jumping-off point for the Dilawri Group of Companies. The Dilwaris established themselves in B.C. in 2010 when they took ownership of Vancouver's first Porsche dealership and service centre at 1718 West 3rd Ave. In 2013, they acquired Vancouver Honda, located at 850 S.W. Marine Dr., a move that made them the largest Honda dealer in Canada. Dilawri is now Canada's largest automotive company, with 4,000 employees and 76 automotive dealerships across Canada, and employs more than 2,000 people at 24 dealerships in B.C. In 2018, the Dilawri Foundation committed $5 million to the Vancouver Public Library Foundation, which was at the time, the largest-ever donation to a public library in Canada. Since 2018, it has also supported the Sarah McLachlan School of Music in East Vancouver. dryan@
