In her native Cuba, Dr Maria
Del Rosario Hernandez says she made about $30 CDN per
month as an anesthetist. So five years ago she decided
to leave the temperate island and head north to Canada
— packing not much more than her dreams of a better
life for her two young daughters. "I was so desperate
in Cuba," she says of her decision to leave. "I knew that
hard times were coming but I wanted to try." And she was
right — she would have a rough go of it at first
in Canada.
Despite her medical training and
nine years' experience as a specialist, Dr Hernandez
could only find work as a home care provider when she
first arrived in New Brunswick. It paid a measly $6.50
an hour. Later, she actually considered herself lucky
to land a job at a Moncton call centre, making $10 an
hour.
But last July, after an unpaid
hospital observership, she was thrilled to be hired
by a Halifax hospital to work as a clinical associate.
And this summer a new program launched by the College
of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, Doctors Nova
Scotia and the province's departments of health and
immigration could bring her one step closer to being
licensed to practise in Canada.
FAST
TRACK TO PRACTISING
In early June, Dr Hernandez was one of 60 international
medical graduate (IMG) physicians who paid $5500 to
take the three day Clinician Assessment for Practice
Program (CAPP), the first of its kind in Canada. The
program differs from other provinces' in that it is
centered on assessment, not training, says CAPP program
manager Gwen MacPherson. Candidates who pass the test,
which has both therapeutic and clinical components,
are given a temporary defined licence and could begin
practising medicine as early as this fall.
Dr Hernandez praises CAPP for tackling
the accreditation issues foreign-trained doctors face.
"We are here and we want to work and they are giving
us that chance," she says, adding that she hopes the
program will become a template across the country. "They
are going to show other provinces what they can do and
how they can improve."
DOCTORS
HELPING DOCTORS
Successful candidates are placed under the mentorship
of a fully licensed physician in a district experiencing
a doctor shortage for a year, at which time they are
assessed for their readiness to practise on their own.
Ms MacPherson says this period allows candidates to
isolate and improve upon their weak areas. She says
cultural differences could be the greatest challenge
for some candidates, as they get used to how the Canadian
medical system works in terms of referrals, for instance,
or, "it may be they have to brush up on the terminology
of Canadian medicine." Dr Hernandez says she experienced
two language barriers when she began working as a clinical
associate. "All my career was in Spanish," she says.
"And the medical terminology is like another language."
Ms MacPherson readily admits the
$5500 assessment fee is a tad steep for some immigrants.
Currently, no financial aid is available. "It's hard
if you're coming from a foreign country and don't have
access to any kind of credit," she says. However, she's
quick to point out that candidates selected for placement
begin earning right away. "That's another benefit of
the program, they're practice-ready," she says.
Currently CAPP is only assessing
candidates to work as family physicians, although Ms
McPherson says there are plans to expand it to include
specialists and other health practitioners.
Although the details of a post-CAPP
retention plan are not finalized, candidates will have
to stay for at least a year to complete the program.
Although the province has one of the best doctor to
patient ratios in the country, more than 40,000 Nova
Scotians don't have their own family physician. And
of the 60 candidates being tested in June, a dozen already
live in the province. Ms McPherson says CAPP's administrators
are hopeful that, with a network of contacts in Nova
Scotia's medical community and rosy job prospects, many
candidates will opt to set up shop in the province.
"We have a year to make them feel at home," she says.
After that,
"it's hopeful that they will want
to stay."
For Dr Hernandez, the chance to
settle down in rural Nova Scotia is a dream come true.
"I want to go to one small community where they need
me," she says. "I don't like big cities and I think
it would be great if I could help a small community."
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