Doctor recruitment scene heats up amid ongoing province-wide shortage
Physician recruiters and Nova Scotia Health Authority’s aggressive marketing campaign is slowly paying off
TRURO, N.S. – More doctors are finally making their way to Nova Scotia – albeit not as quickly as many would like – as the province grapples with an ongoing shortage.
At a meeting in Truro Thursday, the Nova Scotia Health Authority and physician recruiters say 10 more doctors arrived in Nova Scotia in November. They joined 84 others who started working in the province between April 1 and Oct. 31 of this year, including 34 family practitioners.
“The shortage and recruitment effort is probably the biggest thing I do every day in my work,” said Dr. Ryan Sommers, who co-chairs Truro’s physician recruitment committee. “We’ve made a difference in some of our specialist services locally, so we’ve been able to maintain our complement for pathology, surgery and radiology.”
However, the recruitment of family doctors in the Truro area is still lagging, according to Sommers. He said Colchester County is down by “seven or eight,” family doctors, with another two set to retire in 2020.
One bright spot for the Truro area is two new family doctors who will start work in town next year, replacing the retirees.
Sommers said six medical residents are currently in training across northern Nova Scotia, including two each in Truro, New Glasgow and Amherst.
“If you train residents in your community, you have a higher chance of retaining them,” said Sommers.
To this end, the Nova Scotia Health Authority is partnering with communities across the province, showcasing the Atlantic lifestyle to prospective doctors.
For NSHA physician recruiting consultant Mindy Leblanc, it means not just recruiting doctors, but winning over their families to the idea of a new life in Nova Scotia.
In Truro, doctors and their families are given tours of local attractions and may also visit downtown restaurants, coffee shops, and other businesses.
Doctors and their families can also visit local schools, visit hospitals and go on “realtor tours” to see home options.
“It’s important for us to showcase not only the physician connection, but also what the community offers,” said Leblanc during her speech to Truroarea stakeholders Dec. 5. “It’s very important that we open our homes and our offerings to these folks when they show up here, so that they feel like they can see themselves living and practising in this community.”
The NSHA first took charge of physician recruitment in 2016 and since then has launched a wide-ranging marketing campaign. This includes a website with the slogan: “Nova Scotia. More than medicine.”
The NSHA attends trade shows and conferences, across Canada and abroad, to help recruit more doctors. Practising physicians typically accompany NSHA representatives to such meetings, where they can meet with potential new recruits.
Outside Canada, physician recruiters are especially interested in hiring more family doctors from countries like the United Kingdom and Ireland. Their medical training and qualification regimens are a good match to the Canadian equivalent.
“From the reports of the folks who are coming from the U.K., people are looking for a more rewarding work-life balance,” said Leblanc.
The NSHA says more than 400 doctors, including both family and specialist practitioners, have been recruited in the last three years.
… BUT SOME STICKING POINTS REMAIN
While hiring more family doctors from abroad is relatively easy, recruiting foreign specialists can be harder.
Often, foreign specialists in Nova Scotia must complete an equivalency exam, while working at the same time. They can only avoid this if their qualifications are an exact match with Nova Scotia requirements.
Meantime, Nova Scotians who complete their medical training abroad often cannot return home. Increasing numbers of Canadians are training abroad in locations like the United States and Caribbean countries, according to Sommers.
When fourth-year medical students apply for residency slots back home, the numbers are often strictly limited, even if they are Canadian citizens.
“It’s a bit more challenging to come back to Canada,” said Sommers.