Close X
Thursday, October 31, 2024
ADVT 
National

One In Five Newly Certified Medical Specialists Unemployed In 2017, Study Shows

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 01 May, 2019 07:02 PM

    MONTREAL — Despite long patient waiting lists, almost one in five Canadian medical specialists weren't able to find work upon graduation from their training programs in 2017 — the highest number ever reported, according to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.


    A study released Wednesday by the professional association that oversees Canadian medical specialists' education found that 19 per cent of specialists didn't immediately find work upon completing their certification.


    Unemployment numbers for newly certified specialists have fluctuated between 14 and 19 per cent since the group began conducting surveys in 2011, with the 2017 numbers being the most recent.


    The numbers don't point to a surplus of specialists but rather a need for better planning, according to a spokeswoman for the group.


    For the moment, "the system isn't working in an optimal way," said Danielle Frechette, the executive director of the royal college’s Office of Research, Health Policy and Advocacy and one of the survey's authors.


    In a phone interview, she said some doctors can spend more than a year job-hunting.


    The goal of the survey is to "find solutions for problems linked to employment of doctors, to improve physician workforce planning and inform career choice," the royal college said.


    The response rate to the initial survey was 37 per cent, while 51 per cent of specialists who reported employment challenges agreed to a follow-up survey.


    The survey suggests changes need to be made to better serve patients, Frechette said. "If governments think of aligning human resources with physical resources to give care more punctually, we would all be happier," she said.


    The survey respondents noted several barriers to finding employment, including a lack of positions in their specialty; poor access to job listings; their own reluctance to leave their home cities due to family obligations; a lack of resources including hospital beds or operating rooms; and the delayed retirement of senior physicians and surgeons.


    "Some hospitals would like to hire me but no funding for operating room time so no job. Older surgeons don’t want to retire," one newly certified oncologist wrote in the survey.


    As for those who don't want to move, many are members of "generation sandwich," who are simultaneously caring for children and aging parents, Frechette said.


    The 2017 survey results confirmed previous years' findings that surgical specialities requiring more resources are the most affected by employment issues. Neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists were the most affected in each of the seven years the survey has been conducted, followed by orthopedic surgeons and nuclear medicine specialists.


    At the same time that specialists report difficulty finding employment, an international investigation has found that Canadians have reported longer wait times than other similar countries when it comes to seeing a specialist.


    More than half of Canadians, or 56 per cent, waited more than four weeks to see a specialist, compared to the international average of 36 per cent. This is according to the 2016 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of adults in 11 countries, the royal college said.


    The good news in the survey is that 61 per cent of specialists who reported difficulty in finding employment had secured a position by the time a follow-up survey was given 12 to 17 months after certification, Frechette said.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    How Court Battle Over 'Grabher' Licence Plate Mirrors Wider Societal Debate

    HALIFAX — When Lorne Grabher bought a personalized licence plate for his father 30 years ago, he thought it would make for a fine tribute to his family's Austrian-German heritage.

    How Court Battle Over 'Grabher' Licence Plate Mirrors Wider Societal Debate

    Court Dismisses Latest Helmut Oberlander Effort To Fight Stripping Of Citizenship

    The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the latest legal action from Helmut Oberlander, whose case dates back to the 1990s.

    Court Dismisses Latest Helmut Oberlander Effort To Fight Stripping Of Citizenship

    Woman's Angry Health-Care Plea To Nova Scotia Premier Goes Viral - WATCH

    "To the premier of Nova Scotia, I dare you to take a meeting with me … and tell me there is no health-care crisis," Inez Rudderham, 33, said in a viral Facebook video that has been viewed over 1.5 million times.

    Woman's Angry Health-Care Plea To Nova Scotia Premier Goes Viral - WATCH

    New Sustainable Energy Engineering Building Unveiled At B.C.’s Simon Fraser University

    New Sustainable Energy Engineering Building Unveiled At B.C.’s Simon Fraser University
    SURREY, B.C. — Simon Fraser University has unveiled a new building featuring state-of-the-art facilities for a sustainable energy engineering program aimed at clean-technology innovation.

    New Sustainable Energy Engineering Building Unveiled At B.C.’s Simon Fraser University

    Struggling B.C. Adoption Agency Elects New Board That Intends To Keep It Open

    Struggling B.C. Adoption Agency Elects New Board That Intends To Keep It Open
    A Vancouver Island adoption agency that is struggling with a decline in foreign adoptions has been saved from closure.

    Struggling B.C. Adoption Agency Elects New Board That Intends To Keep It Open

    Last Member Of Vancouver Baseball Team That Fought Racism Helps Unveil New Stamp

    BURNABY, B.C. — A new Canada Post stamp honours an amateur Japanese-Canadian baseball team that used sport to battle racism and discrimination.    

    Last Member Of Vancouver Baseball Team That Fought Racism Helps Unveil New Stamp