Saudi medical students get three-week extension

Ottawa hospitals have been given a bit of breathing room as they tackle the problem of departing Saudi doctors.

The deadline for Saudi students to leave Canada — including 67 physicians training with the University of Ottawa medical school — has been extended until Sept. 22. The Saudis had been ordered to leave by Aug. 31 as part of the kingdom’s angry response to a tweet from Global Affairs that criticized the Saudis’ human rights record.

In an emailed statement, uOttawa said Thursday that it had received written confirmation of the extension. The school has about 250 Saudi students, mostly in medicine, engineering and science, and was anticipating 277 Saudis would enrol in the fall term.

“The University is assisting Saudi students and medical residents affected by the decision of Saudi Arabia to suspend all training, scholarships and fellowships in Canada and to transfer all Saudi students to other countries,” said uOttawa spokeswoman Isabelle Mailloux Pulkinghorn.

“The University recognizes that this is a stressful time for the students affected. The first priority is to ensure the well-being and success of our students and trainees, and we will work with those students who must comply with the Saudi measures.”

Carleton had 133 Saudi students registered in the Winter 2018 term and had 95 registered in its summer 2018 session. Algonquin College has 74 Saudi students.

But it is the loss of the Saudi doctors that will be felt most keenly. The bulk of the uOttawa trainees are at The Ottawa Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Their tuition and salaries are paid for by the Saudi government. Their loss presents “a staggering problem” for Canadian hospitals, Dr. Frank Rybicki, chairman of the Ottawa Hospital’s radiology department, said in an opinion piece published in the Citizen last week.

The hospitals have deferred comment to uOttawa, which has turned down multiple requests for an interview on how local health care might be affected when the Saudis leave. All told, about 1,000 Saudi doctors are studying and working in Canadian hospitals.