Evidence of meeting #14 for Health in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was spots.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Paediatrician-in-Chief, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Representative, Pediatric Chairs of Canada
—would not have exactly the same expertise.
Conservative
Helena Konanz Conservative Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Do you predict that at some point there are going to be pediatric units closing permanently? Would you say that we may come up with an excuse or that administration might come up with an excuse like, “Well, it'll be covered in other areas”?
Of course, you don't believe that and it doesn't sound like it's possible.
Paediatrician-in-Chief, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Representative, Pediatric Chairs of Canada
I do not believe that would be safe and high-quality care for our children.
Conservative
Helena Konanz Conservative Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
But you see that coming down the road, it sounds like.
Paediatrician-in-Chief, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Representative, Pediatric Chairs of Canada
I see it being a risk, especially when we have a strained workforce.
Again, there are multiple specialties. There's general pediatrics, which is probably a big part of the population you're speaking about, but there are also many specialties under strain. We know that more than half of our current pediatric cardiologists, the cardiologists practising across the country who take care of our youngest children, are over 50, and over 20% are over 60. That tells you something about that workforce.
Conservative
Helena Konanz Conservative Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
So it's a very dangerous situation.
Is pediatric medicine that's taught in schools in Australia, America or the United Kingdom, let's say, comparable to medicine that's taught in Canadian medical schools, and would it be interchangeable in the sense that we could receive doctors from those countries and they should be able to fit right in with our pediatric requirements?
Paediatrician-in-Chief, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Representative, Pediatric Chairs of Canada
I believe so. Dr. McPherson spoke about that.
As you may have seen in my biography, I am a Harvard-trained physician. I did my medical school at Harvard. I did my residency at Boston Children's and Dana-Farber—
Conservative
Helena Konanz Conservative Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Yes. Okay, then it's very similar.
Paediatrician-in-Chief, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Representative, Pediatric Chairs of Canada
I believe it is incredibly similar. We have standards that we follow, and I—
Conservative
Helena Konanz Conservative Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Of course; of course you do. Thank you so much.
Dr. McPherson, thank you for your opening statements. You said that Canada's licensing is “burdensome, disorganized and inconsistent”. It's pretty clear what you feel about it and what we've been hearing from witnesses.
It sounds to me as though Americans want to leave and want to work here. Would you say that Canada is getting a bad reputation in the United States or throughout the world, possibly, and that after a while we'll get fewer and fewer people actually wanting to even try to make the leap to come to Canada? We need those doctors so badly.
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
I wouldn't go so far as to say that Canada is getting a bad reputation. I think everyone understands that bureaucracy comes with paperwork, and—
Conservative
Helena Konanz Conservative Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
But you said that Canada has a lot more than you—
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
There certainly is frustration with the process. There's a very large online community of U.S. physicians who explore the options of practising abroad, and—
Conservative
Helena Konanz Conservative Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
I'm sorry to interrupt you, but we have only a few more seconds.
British Columbia instituted a campaign to try to recruit more U.S. physicians. Do you know if any of your colleagues are looking to move to British Columbia? Is that working? You originally were going to move there, right? Do you feel it's working?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
I actually have a couple of colleagues who moved to British Columbia this year.
Conservative
Conservative
Helena Konanz Conservative Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Okay. That's great to hear.
Thank you.
Liberal
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you all for coming. This is all very useful information.
Dr. McPherson, you talked about a lot of the barriers for immigrants coming in with these trainee programs. You said that this is with the provincial nominee program. Are these spots determined by the provinces?
Emergency Medicine Physician, As an Individual
Yes, I'm referencing provincial nomination. Those are unique to each province. They're basically pathways to express entry to facilitate getting permanent residency. Then there are specific pathways for physicians.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Thank you.
Dr. Dagenais, you talked about the different programs for different graduates of different countries. You talked about the bridging program. Is each bridging program specific to each province, or is this a unified federal initiative?
Executive Director and Registrar, National Dental Examining Board of Canada
No, the bridging programs depend on the university. They are organized by the university. Not all Canadian faculties of dentistry have them.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Winnipeg West, MB
Thank you.
I'm more familiar with medical licensing. Is a dental licence provincial or federal?
