Recently, 22 international medical graduates (IMGs) took
their first step to becoming regulated Canadian naturopathic doctors, beginning
the first-ever naturopathic medicine program delivery offered specifically for
IMGs.
The IMG program delivery, launched by the Canadian College
of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), offers graduates of medical schools an
opportunity to further their health care careers in Canada.
Applicants to the CCNM program have demonstrated their
knowledge through successful completion of either the Medical Council of Canada
Evaluating Examination (MCCEE) or the United States Medical Licensing
Examination Part I (USMLEI).
“There are over 10,000 foreign-trained medical graduates in
Canada, over 7,000 in Ontario alone,” says CCNM President Bob Bernhardt,
PhD. “Most of these highly trained
individuals are currently engaged in lower skilled jobs that make little or no
use of their medical expertise. That doesn’t make sense for Canada, and it
doesn’t make sense to these medical professionals. We see value in ensuring
that these highly trained immigrants to Canada can build upon the knowledge and
skills that helped them gain entry to the country and use them in gainful
employment.
“Doctors and healthcare professionals who arrive in Canada
as immigrants or refugees and who wish to pursue a career in medicine must
negotiate a complicated and costly series of evaluating and licensing
examinations. When these exams are successfully completed, international
medical graduates (IMGs) are required to perform up to two years in a hospital
residency program. Unfortunately, their access to residency has been limited,
and this exclusion creates frustration for those who want to further their
careers as Canadian doctors.”
Students in the first IMG cohort include surgeons,
oncologists, pediatricians and a medical geneticist, and comprise medical
professionals from several countries.
Many foreign-trained medical doctors feel that the nature of
a naturopathic doctor’s practice is much closer to their experience as a
medical doctor than practice in the provincial fee-for-service system that
drives the average duration of standard visits to allopathic doctors to less
than 10 minutes.
Therapies associated with naturopathic medicine are used
worldwide: clinical nutrition; lifestyle management; traditional Asian medicine
and acupuncture; botanical (herbal) medicine; physical medicine; and
homeopathy.
The six-term (two-year) bridge delivery allows for
reasonable sequencing of all required courses, as well as enhanced
opportunities for integration of the IMG and third-year student cohorts.
The bridge delivery cohort will be supervised through 1032
hours of primary clinical experience – the same number as required in the
four-year offering.
The IMG students will have opportunities to serve as interns
in the seven clinics run by CCNM, including the five community health centres
and the new teaching clinic within Brampton Civic Hospital.
Founded as the Ontario College of Naturopathic Medicine in
1978, CCNM has produced highly educated primary care providers and increased
the profile of naturopathic medicine in Canada.
CCNM is accredited by the Council on Naturopathic Medical
Education (CNME) and is a member of the Association of Accredited Naturopathic
Medical Colleges (AANMC). Graduates receive the naturopathic doctor (ND)
designation.
For more info, call 416-498-1255.