Licensed in as little as six months: new shorter supervision period and faster licensing decisions for IMGs in Nova Scotia

Physicians who trained overseas can now obtain a long-term licence more quickly in Nova Scotia thanks to a new licensing pathway adopted by the province’s medical regulator. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia’s new strategy involves a shorter supervision period and an accelerated licencing decision based on competency. The change was made as part of “the college’s commitment to support the recruitment of physicians,” a press release from the college stated. The college has also developed an orientation program that helps support physicians practicing in Canada for the first time. The program is mandatory and will introduce physicians new to Nova Scotia to the healthcare delivery environment and the local community, the college said. Nova Scotia’s Medical Act requires that IMGs be initially issued a defined licence by the college and that they must practice under supervision for a set amount of time. Under the new licensing pathway, the time that IMGs with a defined licence must practice under supervision is reduced by 60%. The minimum time a physician with a defined licence must be supervised is now six months, and the maximum time has been reduced from 60 months to 24 months. After six months, a physician on a defined licence may be eligible for a long-term restricted licence. Before the full 24 months of supervision ends, the Registration Committee will review the supervision report and may issue the physician a long-term restricted licence, grant an ongoing defined licence, or end the licence. Under a restricted licence, the physician can only have a scope of practice consistent with their practice when under supervision. The college will only grant a full licence after the physician has passed certification exams. The college predicts that 80% of physicians who pursue the new licensing pathway will be granted a restricted licence after six months of supervision. Read: CaRMS by the numbers: More family medicine residency positions left unfilled this year than last 5 years The college’s new licensing pathway was developed after it reviewed data gathered over the past six years and consulting sponsors and supervisors of those practicing under a defined licence. Its findings show that the majority of the practice areas of concern were identified and addressed in the first 9.5 months of supervised practice. The new pathway will be more expensive for IMGS. The cost to the physician seeking a licence is increasing from $3,600 per year to $7,500 for a six-month supervision period. The supervisor is paid $6,000, and the remaining $1,500 is for a college administration fee. Physicians who need to be supervised longer than six months will have to pay more. Previously, supervising physicians would spend between 16-20 hours supervising IMGs over a year. Now the college expects supervision will take 40 hours over six months. The Nova Scotian government had previously announced it was working with medical regulatory bodies to streamline licensing for the more than 230 Ukrainian healthcare professionals who wish to work in the province. Of those, 144 are physicians, with 43 currently in the province and 111 are elsewhere in Canada. Read: Nova Scotia looking to fast track licensing process for Ukrainian health workers

Licensed in as little as six months: new shorter supervision period and faster licensing decisions for IMGs in Nova Scotia

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