Most rural doctor positions filled

Intensive recruiting and a significant cash outlay has helped the Saskatoon Health Region fill all but three rural physician vacancies as of September.

A year ago, 11 doctor positions were vacant in the small communities outside of Saskatoon, and 15 were vacant the year before that.

The region spent $543,000 this year on recruitment and retention.

Some of the new doctors were hired through the $3.2 million Saskatchewan International Physicians Practise Assessment (SIPPA) program.

“As we recruit more people than normal, our costs go up. We’re being successful, but it comes with a price,” said Corey Miller, director of practitioner staff affairs.

“There are cost implications, but we believe it’s worth it.”

The region’s recruitment and retention activities include advertising, paying third-party recruitment firms, fellowship training grants, relocation grants and the cost of travel and accommodation for interviewees.

Under the SIPPA program, Saskatchewan has increased the number of countries and universities from which it will hire. The program involves a nine-week instructional period and rigorous assessment to ensure the internationally trained physicians meet Saskatchewan’s expectations.

SIPPA offers the 30 candidates free housing in suites that cost around $120 or $130 per night, Miller said.

The cost per participant in SIPPA is $30,000 to $45,000, depending on the length of each doctor’s assessment period.

Between 68 per cent and 80 per cent of participants so far have passed the assessment and been contracted to work here.

“WE’RE BECOMING SUCCESSFUL, BUT IT COMES WITH A PRICE.”

COREY MILLER

“It’s expensive, but its worth it. It’s not cheap to educate a doctor for eight years, either,” Miller said.

When the program began last year, the region advertised overseas but was only able to attract 18 applicants. Now the region places ads in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal as well.

Word of mouth has been a successful recruitment method, as doctors who completed the program told their colleagues, who then began inquiring about the program.

Many of the new applicants are landed immigrants whose families are here but who were forced to return to the their home countries for four to six months each year to practise medicine because they didn’t qualify to practise in Canada.

SIPPA helps them meet the Canadian requirements in exchange for a two-year return-for-service contract.

“We’ve opened the door to more doctors, but we’ve also put more rigour into assessing their skills before we introduce them to our population to ensure we’re bringing doctors in who have good quality training ... That has had a humungous impact on our rural recruitment,” Miller added.

While some of those doctors are likely to move on after they complete their obligation, some are happy to stay on in the smaller communities, Miller said.

The increasing number of graduates from the College of Medicine has also provided doctors to the region.

“Every year we’re seeing more grads come out of family medicine and specialty programs as well ... That is impacting our recruitment efforts,” Miller said.

The increased cost of recruitment this year will likely by offset by a reduction in the amount spent on locum doctors, which is high because their travel must be paid each time they fly in, he said.