Ont. assesses 550 foreign-trained MDs.

TORONTO -- Five hundred fifty international medical graduates participated in the the Provincial IMG Clinical Assessment held at McMaster University, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario and University of Ottawa. These are foreign-trained physicians who reside in the province but are not practicing medicine. They are competing for approximately 200 training positions in the health care system to qualify for membership in the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The training positions are being funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care in order to relieve the physician shortage in Ontario. That number of positions has more than doubled from 90 in 2003. The government currently provides $26 million to train up to 200 IMGS each year to practice in the province. Many of the positions are in northern and rural-areas, where the physician shortage is most acute.

A pilot project called the Sector Specific Employment Services for alternative Health Sector Employment will help IMGS who are not working as physicians to use their transferable skills and explore alternative employment opportunities in other areas of the health sector. The pilot project will serve 40 participants in the first year. Over the next three years, the project will assist an additional 1,000 participants.

416-327-4320