CanAm perspective:
Having four licensing colleges in Atlantic Canada with less than two million people makes absolutely no sense. You only have to look south of the border and around the world to see we really only need one licencing college for all of Canada.
If anything, it is a major road block for recruitment. It takes a minimum of 2-4 months for a fully-licensed Canadian-trained physician to apply and get licensed. At least an Atlantic Canadian licence would allow physicians the freedom to move and pick up extra work in neighbouring provinces.
CanAm has many clients and physicians who are extremely frustrated with the lack of mobility. Physicians can’t afford to hold multiple licences. The real issue is that no college wants to give up their power. Recruitment has absolutely nothing to do with it.
***
There haven’t been formal talks about regulating physicians through an Atlantic body, but Dr. Cyril Moyse — registrar with the PEI College of Physicians and Surgeons — says a joint college would be “really difficult,” particularly for PEI doctors.
Former health minister Doug Currie proposed the idea of a joint college and said it made sense in terms of licensing consistency.
But Moyse thinks a regional college would be less flexible — with less political access. It could also make it harder for PEI patients to file complaints since the office would most likely not be located on the island.
Current health minister Robert Henderson says he thinks a regional regulating body makes sense but the decision is up to the colleges.
