N.S. opens licensing clinic for internationally trained physicians

A new clinic in Nova Scotia aims to speed up the process to license internationally trained physicians.

The Physician Assessment Centre for Excellence has four trained physicians who will serve 2,600 patients on the Need a Family Practice Registry, according to a news release from the province. A team will supervise the physician across 12 weeks and assess them for independent licensure.

“Having been a family physician for over 20 years in a more rural setting, I understand some of what internationally trained primary care providers will experience in our healthcare system,” said Dr. Andria MacAulay, who will act as an assessor, in the release. “I welcomed the opportunity to become trained in workplace-based physician assessment, and I am excited to make a contribution to improving access to care by assessing internationally trained family care providers for practise in Nova Scotia.”

The program will take over from Dalhousie University’s Practice Ready Assessment program, which issued 39 licences since 2019.

Physicians who become licensed through the program will be required to sign three-year return-of-service agreements to practise in Nova Scotia.

The province expects the clinic will eventually be able to handle 6,500 patients.

Twenty-eight per cent of new physicians who began practising in Nova Scotia last year were recruited internationally, according to the news release.

As of Feb. 3, Nova Scotia Health said 104,324 Nova Scotians were still in need of a primary care physician.

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