CANADIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Canada accommodates international medical graduates

Thursday, 3 January 2008

Medical professionals who would like to spread their wings, can now reap the benefits of Canada's fantastic medical immigration structure.

As staff shortages have intensified over the past two decades as a result of brain drain, systems in several Western countries are depending heavily on imported healthcare professionals.

Canada is one of these countries, and is adding residency positions to accommodate international medical graduates (IMG) by streamlining immigration and training requirements to facilitate their direct entry into practice.

As a result, educated overseas healthcare professionals represent more than a quarter of the medical and nursing workforces of Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. IMGs make up 23% to 28% of doctors in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia.

Lower income countries supply 40% to 75% of these IMGs. According to recent data, India, the Philippines and Pakistan are the leading sources of IMGs.

As pointed out by the students, the two most important driving forces behind their decision to migrate are poor pay and poor quality of training. Other factors also mentioned are the poor work environment and lack of rigor in teaching of residents. Over half of final-year medical students referred to these issues as major reasons behind their decision to work abroad.

Canada is seeking skilled medical professionals and other workers. If you would like to find out if you qualify, take a free visa eligibility assessment, which will produce instant results.