A Canadian medical student, due to the lack of Canadian medical school seats, chose to obtain her Medical Degree in an English program offered outside of Canada. Due to the medical school’s American affiliation, she was able to complete the final two years of medical school and three-year post-graduate training in Family Medicine in the USA. In addition, she will be eligible for full certification as a Canadian Family Physician, without the need to write any further Canadian exams effective in June 2015.
Why can’t a young anglophone, Canadian-born citizen, who is eligible for full Canadian certification as a Family Physician, be licensed to work on PEI? Because, although approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), the English medical school she attended was not listed on the recent English Proficiency Policy adopted by the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada (FMRAC) and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of PEI.
We fully understand the spirit of the PEI College’s policy is to ensure that physician candidates, whose first language is not English, have a sufficient command of the English language to be able to provide safe, high-quality patient care to Islanders. Unfortunately, not every policy can be written to cover all relevant scenarios. In this case, an anglophone Canadian who chose to obtain her medical education outside of Canada is being unfairly discriminated by a rigid, literal translation of the FMRAC and PEI College policy.
A common sense review of this Canadian’s heritage and stellar academic credentials leaves little doubt regarding her exemplary command of the English language. Every senior administrator knows that policies are guidelines to facilitate decision-making across large organizations. However, when there is an unusual exception to the policy that clearly can be resolved by a common sense review of the circumstances, a common sense executive decision should be all that is required.
Unfortunately, in this case due to treatment she received from the PEI College, the physician withdrew her application to work in Summerside on May 6, and was approved for licensure in another Canadian province 48 hours later.
In summary, it is regrettable that common sense really isn’t that common — and in this case current policy denies qualified young doctors the opportunity to experience the Island’s vibrant lifestyle.
