International Medical Graduates seeking more information are encouraged to contact saskdocs at info@saskdocs.ca or call toll-free 1-888-415-3627 (in North America) or 306-933-5000 (In Saskatchewan - Canada) Background For many years the province of Saskatchewan has been heavily
dependent upon health care delivery by international medical graduates
(IMGs). The overall percentage of physicians providing care who are IMGs
is approximately 53% (Saskatchewan Medical Association figures) with a
higher percentage of family physicians outside the urban centers having
obtained their training outside Canada. Saskatchewan has also
experienced the "revolving door" phenomenon in that, although we were
often recruting sixty or more IMGs to Saskatchewan annually the
retention rate once they had passed their Canadian licensure examination
was not high. The causes for this poor recruitment rate are
multifactorial, and many are beyond the control of the Government and of
the recruitment agency (our Saskatchewan winters, for example). However,
it is hypothesized that more specific matching of physicians to sites
may improve retention. From 2005 to 2011 Saskatchewan was willing to admit physicians
whose residency experience was in keeping with that of Canadian
physicians to temporary licensure in this province pending their
challenge to the Clinician Assessment and Physician Enhancement process
in Manitiba (CAPE). Over the past six years Saskatchewan, through the
Division of Continuing Professional Learning (CPL) at the College of
Medicine, has provided extensive orientation and remediation to permit
IMG physicians who have demonstrated deficiencies in knowledge or skills
during the CAPE assessment to ensure that the apparent deficits were in
fact real and not the outcome of lack of understanding of the Canadian
system of care delivery. This was a very costly procedure, and the research has not been
completed to identify whether or not this was cost effective for
recruitment and retention within the province. In 2006 the Minister of Health announced the concept of a
"Saskatchewan based" evaluation process to replace CAPE within
Saskatchewan and a multi-faceted steering committee was established
comprising members from the government, the Saskatchewan Medical
Association, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan, the
College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, the Regional Health
Authorities, and International Medical Graduates who have successfully
practiced in Saskatchewan for many years. The pilot program developed by this steering committee came to be
the Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment or SIPPA. The Physicians chosen to take part in this pilot project were
those who, under 2010 requirements, would be eligible for temporary
licensure prior to assessment. They were required to go through the
pilot process for three months, successful completion of which led to
provisional licensure. Following an independent assessment of the pilot, that was evaluated by two
independent evaluators the program is now open to all
physicians who can meet a series of admission critieria, the minimum of
these being in keeping with the standards recommended by the national
body representing the provincial regulatory bodies of the Federation of
Medical Licensing Authorities of Canada (FMRAC). Thirty candidates are admitted three times a year for orientation and evaluation.
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