Quebec College of Physicians relaxes rules for foreign-trained doctors

The Quebec College of Physicians announced Tuesday that it is relaxing the rules under which foreign-trained doctors practise in the province.

The move is intended to increase the availability of health care, the college said, and ease the doctor shortage in Quebec.

After five years of practising with a restrictive permit, foreign-trained doctors will now be able to get a regular permit andpractise in Quebec withoutthe restrictions that previously prohibited them from becoming certified doctors and tied them to one hospital — usually outside urban areas.

Under current rules, doctors can only see patients in clinics that agree to sponsor their practice,which willalso change.

"They could work with affiliated clinics," Dr. Yves Lamontagne, the president of Quebec's College of Physicians, told CBC News. "They could work for the College of Family Physicians of Canada. This will certainly increase the [accessibility] of physicians to the population."

According to the college, 175 doctors will be able to take advantage of the looser rules immediately.

Behzad Mansouri, a post-doctoral fellow inMcGill University'sdepartment of ophthalmology who is originally from Iran, said the new policy only affects some doctors who were trained abroad.

"What we heard is [the new policy is] basically changing the status of doctors, the working doctors now. We need to recognize [other] doctors who are here, who are qualified," he said.

Mansouri saidthebest way to ease the doctor shortage and help Quebecers who don't have a family doctor would be tomakeit easier for foreign-trained doctors to pass qualification tests and to get residencies.