Professional integration experiences of international medical graduates in Ireland and Canada
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Date
2017
Authors
Kolawole, Olaniyi Ajibola
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Publisher
University College Cork
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Abstract
International migration of health professionals, specifically, doctors, especially from the technologically developing countries to developing ones is a phenomenon that is has received considerable attention from researchers, media and policy makers in the lately. This form of migration has sparked many questions both in the academia and world of policy making. It has been examined from the supply side and demand side. Many researchers documented the vacuum migration of doctors from developing countries creates both in terms of shortage of doctors to the subsequent effect on the healthcare provisions and developments of such nations. Other researchers have documented the immense contributions of migrant doctors to the healthcare provision and development of their host countries. Although, an aspect of doctor’s migration researched on and written is their migration from their native countries or countries of training, especially in Ireland, very little has been written on the integration of migrant doctors into the medical professional field or benchmarking their professional integration experiences with other countries that received large numbers of migrant doctors. Thus, this thesis asked the question, are our international medical graduates integrated into the medical professional field in Ireland. To answer this quest, an exploratory study of the professional integration of nonEU/EEA/Western trained doctors in Ireland was carried out. It then benchmarked their experiences with non-EU/EEA/Western medical professionals in Canada. It conducted both face-to-face and telephone interviews with 48 doctors and employer representatives. Using content analysis to analyse data gathered, the study found out that Ireland and Canada receive doctors from outside of the EU/EEA, however, they maintain systems that makes accessing and progressing arduous for doctors trained in specific geographical locations. Also, many doctors from outside of the EU/EEA are preferred to fill up positions that are hard to fill within the health systems of both countries. The thesis concluded on the note that even though, there are policies that aim at fair access and inclusion of minority ethnic groups, race, class and gender remain a basis for professional exclusion within the field of medicine in Ireland and Canada. To overcome this challenge for migrant doctors, the laws governing registration of these doctors must be changed. In-terms of monitoring and implementing inclusion policies and practices for the medical professions in the two countries, there must be proper mechanism put in place and adhered to.
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Keywords
Migration , Professionalisation , International migrants , Labour market , Medical profession , Brain drain , Foreign-trained doctors
Citation
Kolawole, O. A. 2017. Professional integration experiences of international medical graduates in Ireland and Canada. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.