the international medical graduates face difficulties in obtaining residency positions in the United States, Canada -
A study also reveals "brain waste" common
doctors trained abroad estimate that there are not enough residency positions for them in countries such as Canada and the United States and this information was not communicated before they emigrate a new study has found.
researchers at St. Michael's Hospital International Medical Graduates interviewed to better understand the concepts of 'brain drain', the migration of health workers in low-income countries and middle income the high-income countries, and "brain waste", where their skills are underused or not used in their new country. Many were older physicians who had spent a considerable amount of time and money to get a medical residency position.
Residency is a mandatory step in the graduate medical education in which a person who received a medical degree education works in a hospital for two to five year apprenticeship senior doctors.
Dr. Aisha Lofters, a family physician and researcher in the Hospital Centre for Research on Inner City Health, said that 55 percent of international medical graduates, or IMGs living in Canada currently working as doctors. In 2011, 1,800 candidates competing for 191 seats in residence designated for doctors trained in Ontario, the largest province in Canada. The success rate this year was about 20 percent for Canadians who went abroad for their medical education compared to six percent for DIM immigrants.
The figures are similar in the US, where nearly half of IMGs fail in their first attempt to get a residency position. In 2013, 47.6 percent of candidates from non-US citizens obtained a residency position compared with 53.1 percent of US citizens trained in international schools. IMG originating from the United States finally have an 91 percent success rate, while only 73 percent of IMG born outside the United States are ultimately successful.
In an article published in the Journal of risk management and health care policy , Dr. Lofters said these statistics for IMGs in Canada and the United States are not specific to immigrants from countries with low income and middle income, so it is possible their numbers could be even lower.
Among the 462 people whose survey results were studied, Dr. Lofters said that the top five reasons for choosing to emigrate were: socio-economic or political situations in their home countries , better education for their children, concerns about where to raise children, the quality of facilities and equipment and lack of career advancement opportunities. These responses were the top five reasons for choosing to immigrate to Canada.
"When asked if they had any other comments they would like to share about their experiences of migration, a significant number of respondents felt they were poorly informed about their actual chances of obtaining a residency position in Canada, "said Dr. Lofters." Because they were skilled workers allowed to immigrate to Canada, many said assuming they would easily be able to find a job in medicine and expressed anger that their hypothesis was incorrect. "
She said a lot about the shame they felt to take what they saw as" survival jobs, "engage pizzas or driving a taxi instead of practicing medicine. Many said they regretted their decision to move to Canada.
"Our findings suggest that the brain waste is everywhere for physicians migrating in Ontario and both brain drain and brain waste not easy quick fixes," said Dr. Lofters. "Restrict the emigration and immigration for health care workers would be very difficult ethically and morally."
She said that when countries can middle-income, low and should put implementing incentives to encourage their doctors and other health care services for the workers to stay in their countries of origin, such as improved working conditions, financial incentives to work in rural or underserved areas. at the same time, she said, countries like Canada must ensure that the immigration process clearly describes the relatively low probability of getting a career in medicine after immigration, the low number of postgraduate training positions available for IMGs and non-Canadian average time and financial commitment required.
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