Family Physician Dr. Anita Khanna is concerned that the latest changes to the way Canada licenses internationally trained doctors are simply band-aid solutions to a far larger problem. Across the country, millions of people have no family doctor, and the shortage is most severe in rural and northern communities. Each province sets its own rules for licensing physicians, and a doctor approved in one province cannot always practise in another. Trained as a physician in India, Khanna came to Canada fifteen years ago and spent four years retaking exams and completing supervised work before she could treat patients on her own. "I was only too aware of how many skilled colleagues simply gave up," Khanna says. "They drove taxis and stocked shelves while the country insisted it had no doctors."

Ministry Official Brian Whitfield says that while the system is far from perfect, his department is doing their best to fix it. "Recent measures, such as a faster assessment of foreign credentials and new funding for residency positions, have made a real difference," Whitfield says. One of the major reforms allows qualified newcomers to begin supervised practice while their full licence is still being processed. Even so, the backlog is enormous: thousands of internationally trained doctors are waiting, and the assessment can still take years to complete.