FOREIGN GRADUATES GET CHANCE IN ALBERTA

Foreign doctors get chance to practice
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New guidelines from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta are helping foreign trained doctors maintain their skills while they wait for their licence to practice in Canada.



"Not only your confidence as a physician comes back but also you get the feeling of doing something really meaningful," says Nicodeme Mugisho, a doctor who arrived from Congo less than two years ago.



Mugisho can't practice in Calgary until he passes all his qualifying exams and finds a residency position which usually takes about four years.



New guidelines allow foreign medical grads to work as aides in medical clinics while they wait for their licence.



Mugisho works at a walk-in clinic and, under the supervision of doctors, is able to do a variety of things like stitching wounds, giving needs and swabbing throats.



"I think it's a nice way for them to work on their English skills and to try to remember some of the skills they may have gotten rusty on...it's better than having them work in a grocery store," says Dr. Randall Neu a family physician who works with Mugisho.



In addition to these kind of opportunties to work in family practices, another program for International Medical Graduates gives them the chance to work as Clinical Assistants in a hospital.

There are around 600 foreign trained doctors living in Alberta waiting to get their licence.


The AIMG Program office is located at:

Room G212, Health Sciences Centre,
University of Calgary,
3330 Hospital Drive, NW,
Calgary Alberta
T2N 4N1

General Program Inquiries: 403.210.7790

Specific Application and Assessment Inquiries: 403.210.3999 or 403.210.9840
Fax Number: 403.210.8166

Toll Free Phone Number (Alberta only): 1.866.810.8184

Email Inquiries: aimg@ucalgary.ca

Change of Address: AIMG Program Change of
Address Form


The office is open for inquiries:
Monday to Thursday 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.,
Friday 8:30 a.m. – noon (Mountain Time)

Alberta International Medical Graduates Association
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205 - 1409 Edmonton Trail NE

Calgary, Alberta, T2G 3K8

Phone: (403) 520-7730

Toll Free: 1-877-520-7730

www.aimga.ca