Saskatchewan recruits foreign doctors

[ciel999]

(Even though I already posted this in the USask forum, I just want to know what you guys think about foreign doctors practicing in Canada)

 

http://www.leaderpost.com/Sask+docto...619/story.html

 

This is just ridiculous! I'm very upset.

 

Sure, I know that Saskatchewan is still lacking doctors (especially in rural areas), but this is just plain ridiculous! The doctor shortage situation in Saskatchewan has really improved over the past few years. There are way more doctors now, compared to 2007. So why is there need to recruit >400 foreign doctors to Saskatchewan, now? The government knew for many years that Saskatchewan was lacking doctors. Why didn't it increase the number of seats in the College of Medicine back then? Instead, they decided to recruit doctors from South Africa. Now, India.

 

Here are some problems I see with this recruitment:

-Knowing that the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine increased its' seat to 100 just this year, once these students graduate, they will have HARD times finding jobs in Saskatchewan, because most of those jobs will already have been taken up by the foreign doctors.

-Most (if not all) of the foreign doctors are very willing to come to Saskatchewan (even if it means settling in rural areas) because it's better to live in Canada, compared to their corrupt and oppressive countries.

-Once these foreign doctors move to Saskatchewan and practice here, Saskatchewan will no longer need as many doctors. This means that it will become harder for Saskatchewan residents to get into medical school and become doctors, because the medical school will raise its standards once the doctor positions in this province are saturated. This can include decreasing the number of seats in the College of Medicine, making it harder for Saskatchewan residents to compete for admission. I'm sure there are plenty of Saskatchewan students who would really love to become doctors. Not to mention the taxpayers' money that will go towards funding these foreign doctors.

 

Wouldn't YOU rather help the citizens in your province/country first?