ABOUT THE SURVEY
MOSAIC has recently received a grant from the WES Mariam Assefa Fund to collect and analyze disaggregated data to identify barriers and any biases faced by graduates of international medical schools and use this information to advocate for change. Dr. Karin Humphries, Associate Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, is conducting this study in partnership with MOSAIC.
The survey collects demographic, educational, and licensure data from graduates of international medical schools. The survey results will allow the conductors of the study to better understand the barriers, biases, and challenges IMGs face in obtaining Canadian licensure.
The survey is anonymous and is designed only to collect demographic, educational, and Canadian licensure data. Data will be stored on a secure, password protected, database located at the University of British Columbia. The data will not be accessible to the Faculty of Medicine of UBC. All study results will be reported in aggregate to ensure no individual is identifiable. I
If you are an IMG, please fill out the survey here before it closes on Dec. 30, 2022.
Purpose of the survey
● Use the data collected to identify the systemic barriers faced by IMGs to access medical licensure.
● Build a better understanding of the demographic characteristics of IMGs.
● Build a better understanding of the different outcomes for each group that falls under the IMG label and how these different outcomes connect to the racial/ethnic identity, country of origin, gender, age and place of education of each group of IMGs.
● Identify how many IMGs have proven their competence by meeting or surpassing the Canadian standard but are unable to access residency positions and therefore obtain a license to practice medicine in Canada.
How is the data used
The researchers hope to use the data collected from the survey to help identify strategies to remove the barriers IMGs face in gaining licensure and thriving in Canada. To achieve this goal, they will:
● Distribute the findings of the project widely to advocacy groups, immigrant-serving organizations and government and non-government health organizations.
● Hold public education sessions and webinars where they would encourage participants to support the call for an equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI-) based approach for IMGs to qualify to practice in Canada.
● Publish the results in journals and use the data to challenge the existing narratives.
● Meet with Ministries of Health and other stakeholders to share the data and to encourage and engage in a dialogue for systemic change.
Promotion of the survey
We hope you will promote the survey on your website and social media. To make it easy, we have provided promotional materials here that you can download and use to encourage participation in the survey.
Thank you for your support
The demand for medical professionals is extremely high, particularly in rural areas of Canada, therefore, this topic of survey should be quite appealing. An increased demand and relatively fixed supply in the physician labor market is a real fact. Training new physicians is a time-consuming and expensive process, on the other hand, IMGs could utilize their specialities if they are going to be trained for only getting knowledge about the Canadian system and to become familiar with the new culture. I wish to help the Canadian people by providing my services and abilities.