(Image credit: CFJC Today/File photo).
By Mel Rothenburger
ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Eby’s new plan for getting more doctors a drop in the bucket but…

Nov 28, 2022 | 4:47 AM

WHENEVER THE DOCTOR SHORTAGE comes up for discussion, the issue of foreign-trained doctors usually comes up.

Why, people ask, are so many doctors who come from other countries unable to find work here? The answer is usually that it’s complicated, that they have to undergo a lengthy process of accreditation that many or most of them simply aren’t able to endure.

Those who do succeed sometimes wait for years. Stories of fully trained immigrating GPs driving cab or pushing a broom or doing some other lines of work are common.

Well, the provincial government has a new initiative to bring internationally trained doctors into the healthcare system here.

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Premier David Eby announced yesterday — he seems to have taken a liking to Sunday announcements — an expansion to what’s called the Practice Ready Assessment Program that will triple the number of available seats to 96 by March 2024.

That’s a drop in the bucket as the doctor shortage goes. Assuming an average GP has 2,500 patients, Kamloops needs at least 16 more family doctors. In B.C., that number would be around 400.

But the strategy also calls for the removal of barriers to U.S. doctors working here plus creation of a new associate physician class of licence. That would allow some internationally educated physicians who can’t get full GP status to practice under supervision.

All of this will be of at least some cheer to communities like Kamloops that continue to rack their brains for ways to attract family doctors. Everything from financial incentives to ski packages to undefined amenities are regularly discussed.

Provincially, a $118-million fund will help doctors keep their clinics open, and a new payment model for doctors is in the works.

I’m sure the B.C. Liberals/ B.C. United will complain that it all should have been done long ago but these latest moves might at least accomplish one thing — stopping the bleeding, figuratively speaking, of doctors from the system.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by Mel Rothenburger

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