Manitoba aims recruitment efforts at U.S. doctors distressed by American politics
Doctors Manitoba promotes practising with 'zero political interference between you and your patient'
A recruitment drive to deal with Manitoba's doctor shortage is taking aim at physicians in the United States who might be concerned about Donald Trump's incoming presidency.
Doctors Manitoba says it has placed ads in several U.S. states, particularly those where governments have targeted issues like abortion or gender-affirming care.
The headline on a recruitment website invites doctors to practise "with stability and certainty, where you are valued and trusted as a physician" and to "build a practice and life you'll love in Manitoba."
A print ad highlights Manitoba's health-care system as one "that values medical evidence" and enables doctors to practise with "zero political interference between you and your patient."
Data from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba says the province recruits one or two U.S.-trained doctors per year, compared to about 90 internationally trained physicians per year from elsewhere, Doctors Manitoba strategy and communications director Keir Johnson said in an email to CBC News.
"Doctors Manitoba monitors these trends closely, and we've long thought the U.S. is an untapped market for recruitment," he said.
Doctors Manitoba CEO Theresa Oswald, a former Manitoba health minister, said the physician advocacy organization has been working in partnership with university professionals, the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the provincial government to find ways to address the doctor shortfall.
"It isn't traditionally the role of Doctors Manitoba to recruit physicians, but Manitoba finds itself in an unfortunate situation," she said.
"We have, really, the fewest family physicians across Canada per capita, and we're close to the bottom on specialists as well. So this requires an all hands on deck approach, no question about it."
Manitoba needs 375 to 400 more physicians just to get to the national per capita average, she said.
The hard press for U.S. doctors came as the clouds began forming around last month's election, Oswald said.
"We knew that there may be some physicians that might be looking for a different environment in which to work. So we put our heads together with our board of directors and we made the unusual decision to place some ads in a few states," zeroing in on medical associations that had been expressing some distress about government overreach or interference.
The recruitment effort began in three states — North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida — where state governments have taken a negative approach to issues "like gender-affirming care, medical assistance in dying and, of course, a woman having agency over her own body and therefore a right to choose," Oswald said, referring to abortion restrictions.
"But we're looking at other places where physicians may be feeling that distress about government getting in between them and their patients in the exam room, where honestly, government does not belong."
The first ads appeared in medical association journals and other publications for physicians within days of the Nov. 5 election.
'I feel like I'm actually caring for everyone'
Dr. Alison Carleton, who is featured in some of the ads, says her practice broadened after coming to Manitoba from Nevada, Iowa, in 2017.
"I like it because I feel like I'm actually caring for everyone, not just those who can pay — but that's because it's Canada, where we do care about everyone," she said via Zoom on Tuesday.
Carleton, a family doctor in Winnipegosis, about 225 kilometres north of Brandon, encourages other U.S. physicians to make the move to Manitoba.
She said she appreciates not only being paid every two weeks from the province — instead of waiting three months with the balance of some bills still left owing — but also the advocacy from Doctors Manitoba, including on politically divisive issues like transgender care.
"When I was there [in Iowa], we did a lot of transgender care. It was one of our niche markets, and I wouldn't be able to do that anymore," she said via Zoom on Tuesday.
"If I hadn't left by now, I would have had to leave, because that was very important to me to be able to take care of people in a way that met all their needs."
The College College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba says in the fiscal year that ended April 30, 2024, there were 14 physicians practising in Manitoba who had obtained their medical degrees in the U.S.
The college said in a statement it welcomes efforts to address Manitoba's physician shortage in Manitoba, and is "prepared to handle registration applications and process them as swiftly as possible" for doctors who meet requirements to work here.
Oswald said the phone lines at Doctors Manitoba haven't been ringing off the hook just yet, but the organization doesn't intend to be the singular pipeline for physicians who are interested in relocating.
"The government of Manitoba has a health-care resources recruitment office. Manitoba Health has been long active in this game, and so we will really be redirecting the next steps of this, which of course would include immigration, licensure and so forth, to the proper authorities," she said.
Doctors Manitoba is trying to pique interest by pointing out things like Manitoba's low cost of living, natural attractions, opportunities for academic and research roles with the University of Manitoba, and universal health coverage, which means a single payer and fewer insurance headaches for physicians to deal with, Oswald said.
"All of the things that are great about Manitoba, we want to get that front and centre in the minds of U.S. physicians who might be considering making a move, and then let the proper authorities in Manitoba take over from there," she said.
"We really see ourselves as only a piece of the broader puzzle, but we don't expect government to do everything. We want to be a good partner and make sure that every avenue is being pursued here."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Meaghan Ketcheson and Karen Pauls