National medical licences could help speed redeployment of doctors, nurses to where they’re needed most – CBC

Though the requirements are nearly the same, provincial and territorial medical licences are not portable

Apr 26, 2021

We have worked as emergency doctors in epidemics and war zones around the planet, tending the sick and wounded. As cases of COVID-19 climb in a third wave that is overwhelming Canadian hospitals and whose crest is unknown, we worry it is easier to get a licence to treat patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo than in another province should they call for help.

When the need arises, a licence allowing a Canadian doctor or nurse to work in the DRC could be acquired in days, perhaps even hours. One allowing them to work in a different province in their own country, no matter their qualifications, can take months. As we scramble to redeploy medical staff wherever they are needed, we need freedom to be able to quickly send them anywhere throughout our nation. Now, and for the foreseeable future.

There are currently 13 provincial and territorial medical regulatory authorities that separately license physicians. Though doctors and nurses are all similarly trained, practicing in a province or territory takes reams of paperwork, reference letters, professional documents, money and time — and though the requirements are nearly all the same, the approval is not portable.

National medical licences could help speed redeployment of doctors, nurses to where they’re needed most – CBC

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