OBSTACLES WITH DOCTOR LICENSING

SOLUTION: ATLANTIC CANADA COULD SEE REGIONAL LICENSING OF DOCTORS

The East Coast could see a streamlining of licensure for doctors before the rest of Canada.

Currently, physicians practising or on locum outside their home province require licensure by the college of physicians and surgeons in the jurisdiction in which they are practising.

Physicians often find the paperwork overly complicated, plus fees vary from $600 in New Brunswick to $1,950 in Nova Scotia and P.E.I.

Dr. Linda Inkpen, registrar of the Newfoundland and Labrador College of Physicians and Surgeons, said the four Atlantic provinces could introduce changes to streamline the process within six months.

“We're pretty close right now to even stripping out the few barriers that we think we can.”

Changes to licensure may require some provinces to pass legislation. But following a recent meeting of Atlantic Canadian premiers in Charlottetown, all four leaders supported the initiative.

Nationally, Inkpen said medical colleges are also discussing the establishment of a national licence for locum physicians.

However, internationally-trained physicians looking to practise in Canada may not see a simplification of their process for licensure.

Dr. Cyril Moyse, registrar of P.E.I.'S College of Physicians and Surgeons, said colleges are finding it increasingly difficult to evaluate the training of physicians from outside of the country.

"We've got no way of knowing what their training programs are like and how to appropriately vet them for public safety," Moyse said.

— Stu Neatby