Ensuring Physician Competence

Ensuring High-Quality Care

New licensing policies have opened the door for more international physicians to come to Nova Scotia. While the province seeks to recruit and welcome physicians from diverse and unfamiliar training programs, it is incumbent on the College to ensure these physicians have the competence and support to provide safe and effective care.  

Welcoming Competent Physicians

Diligence in assessment is required, with robust, reliable, and reasonable tools and protocols. The College turns to trained physician assessors and supervisors to carry out the important work of evaluating and supporting physicians trained outside of Canada as they settle into practice. Their work involves observation, assessment, and feedback, carefully balanced to allow for fair, effective evaluations without undue cost or administrative burden.   

The goal is to assess practice in relation to the accepted standards in medicine, allowing for fair and consistent evidence-based decisions regarding practice and licensure.   

The licensing of physicians trained outside of Canada relies on the participation of the profession. Already stretched, physicians are stepping up to lend their expertise to this evaluation of clinical competence. Physicians with extensive medical expertise, across diverse practice specialties, are committed to the work of assessing competency for safe patient care.

We are grateful to those dedicated physicians who play an essential role in the licensure of physicians trained outside of Canada.