The Sunrise Health Region reports access to physician care is continuing to improve both in this area and for all Saskatchewan residents. Three new family physicians are now practicing in Canora and Melville thanks to the Saskatchewan International Physician Practice Assessment (SIPPA) program.
Drs. Singh (Canora), Obiora (Canora) and Ker (Melville) join many other International Medical Graduate (IMG) colleagues already practising in Saskatchewan. SIPPA is a unique, made-in-Saskatchewan program that assesses IMGs on their education and clinical ability before allowing them to practice medicine. The program is administered by the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine. Since the program began in 2011, 134 more doctors are practicing in communities across the province.
"Patients from all across Saskatchewan have better access to family doctors because of this program," Minister Responsible for Rural and Remote Health Tim McMillan comments. "SIPPA is one of many initiatives that is helping us meet the health care needs of our growing population. In total, there are more than 400 doctors practicing in the province than there were seven years ago."
"While we continue to recruit and retain our own locally trained physicians, SIPPA is helping us fill immediate vacancies throughout the province. This unique, made-in-Saskatchewan program is allowing more IMGs to practice here and that is good news," adds Erin Brady, saskdocs' interim CEO. "We are seeing more IMGs from within Canada apply and that is encouraging because we have been working hard at reaching out to this particular group."
In addition to these practicing physicians, 21 new IMGs are now completing their clinical field assessments as part of the program's May intake. If successful, these physicians will begin practicing across the province later this summer.
In collaboration with the health regions, saskdocs continues to recruit physicians through direct recruitment initiatives, establishing relationships with medical students and residents, local, national and international advertising, and attending career fairs at home and abroad.
