System will feel loss of Saudi doctors

Teaching Saudi medical trainees in Canada is one of the best ways to export Canadian values, and their loss would have a negative impact on patient care, says the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.

More than 1,000 Saudis are studying medicine in Canada, a third of whom are women, the college says. Earlier this week, the Saudi government ordered those trainees home as part of its harsh retaliation for a tweet from Global Affairs Canada that criticized the Saudis’ human rights record and urged the immediate release of imprisoned human-rights activists.

“It is critical for the Canadian government to be aware of the serious impact to Canadians if this decision is implemented,” the college says in an emailed statement.

“There is no doubt that the sudden loss of trained resources would impact patient care across this country.”

The University of Ottawa has 67 trainees from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enrolled in its Faculty of Medicine, who practise in Ottawa hospitals. The Ottawa Hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario referred questions about how the loss of the Saudis will affect patient care to the University of Ottawa. The university provided enrolment figures, but said it would not give any interviews on the subject.

Since 1978, more than 4,500 Saudis have completed their advanced medical training in Canada, and in some provinces, Saudis make up a third of physician trainees in hospitals, according to the college.

“Saudi physicians, who train in Canada, take home not only their expertise but families who have shared their Canadian cultural experience. The vast majority of practising Saudi specialist physicians have received their training in Canada, and through this exchange become ambassadors for our values,” the college says in its statement.

Saudis were by far the most numerous nationality among the 4,515 foreign-born medical graduates in Canada in 2017-18, making up more than 18 per cent of the total, more than twice the percentage of the next most common nationality, Irish. Nearly all have their educations funded by the Saudi government — a lucrative source of revenue for Canadian medical schools.