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Alternative Careers toward Job Market Integration: Barriers Faced by International Medical Graduates in Canada

International Medical Graduates (IMGs), who completed their medical degree and training outside Canada constitute a notable portion of the skilled migrants of the country. However, due to a long and uncertain licensure process and limited opportunities many IMGs look for alternative career pathways...

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Autores principales: Turin, Tanvir C., Chowdhury, Nashit, Lake, Deidre
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9915349/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36767681
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032311
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author Turin, Tanvir C.
Chowdhury, Nashit
Lake, Deidre
author_facet Turin, Tanvir C.
Chowdhury, Nashit
Lake, Deidre
author_sort Turin, Tanvir C.
collection PubMed
description International Medical Graduates (IMGs), who completed their medical degree and training outside Canada constitute a notable portion of the skilled migrants of the country. However, due to a long and uncertain licensure process and limited opportunities many IMGs look for alternative career pathways where they can utilize their learned skills. Alternative careers in the health and wellness sector may offer such opportunities; however, IMGs’ success in these pathways were also less evident despite their high potential. In this study, we investigated the barriers that IMGs stated to face when attempting alternative jobs in Canada. Eight focus groups with 42 IMGs in Canada were conducted. Using a thematic analysis approach, we identified that IMGs encounter these barriers in different stages of their resettlement journey in Canada, including both the pre-migration and post-migration phases. In the pre-migration phase, IMGs were not aware of the success rates of the licensing pathways and did not have sufficient information regarding potential alternative careers. In the post-migration phase, the lack of information continues to affect IMGs where IMGs exhaust their resources pursuing alternative careers without proper guidance and support. Further, IMGs struggle with taking preparation for alternative careers by obtaining further certifications and completing other prerequisites for some barriers, such as financial constraints. While looking for jobs, some IMGs perceived systemic discrimination such as non-recognition of their credentials and experience. Furthermore, the mismatch of expectations and limited growth opportunities offered by potential careers serve to disincentivize IMGs from pursuing an alternative career. Addressing the current employment inequity experienced by IMGs in Canada warrants research collaborations between organizations supporting IMGs and policymakers that target known barriers to the pursuit of alternative careers by IMGs.
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spelling pubmed-99153492023-02-11 Alternative Careers toward Job Market Integration: Barriers Faced by International Medical Graduates in Canada Turin, Tanvir C. Chowdhury, Nashit Lake, Deidre Int J Environ Res Public Health Article International Medical Graduates (IMGs), who completed their medical degree and training outside Canada constitute a notable portion of the skilled migrants of the country. However, due to a long and uncertain licensure process and limited opportunities many IMGs look for alternative career pathways where they can utilize their learned skills. Alternative careers in the health and wellness sector may offer such opportunities; however, IMGs’ success in these pathways were also less evident despite their high potential. In this study, we investigated the barriers that IMGs stated to face when attempting alternative jobs in Canada. Eight focus groups with 42 IMGs in Canada were conducted. Using a thematic analysis approach, we identified that IMGs encounter these barriers in different stages of their resettlement journey in Canada, including both the pre-migration and post-migration phases. In the pre-migration phase, IMGs were not aware of the success rates of the licensing pathways and did not have sufficient information regarding potential alternative careers. In the post-migration phase, the lack of information continues to affect IMGs where IMGs exhaust their resources pursuing alternative careers without proper guidance and support. Further, IMGs struggle with taking preparation for alternative careers by obtaining further certifications and completing other prerequisites for some barriers, such as financial constraints. While looking for jobs, some IMGs perceived systemic discrimination such as non-recognition of their credentials and experience. Furthermore, the mismatch of expectations and limited growth opportunities offered by potential careers serve to disincentivize IMGs from pursuing an alternative career. Addressing the current employment inequity experienced by IMGs in Canada warrants research collaborations between organizations supporting IMGs and policymakers that target known barriers to the pursuit of alternative careers by IMGs. MDPI 2023-01-28 /pmc/articles/PMC9915349/ /pubmed/36767681 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032311 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Turin, Tanvir C.
Chowdhury, Nashit
Lake, Deidre
Alternative Careers toward Job Market Integration: Barriers Faced by International Medical Graduates in Canada
title Alternative Careers toward Job Market Integration: Barriers Faced by International Medical Graduates in Canada
title_full Alternative Careers toward Job Market Integration: Barriers Faced by International Medical Graduates in Canada
title_fullStr Alternative Careers toward Job Market Integration: Barriers Faced by International Medical Graduates in Canada
title_full_unstemmed Alternative Careers toward Job Market Integration: Barriers Faced by International Medical Graduates in Canada
title_short Alternative Careers toward Job Market Integration: Barriers Faced by International Medical Graduates in Canada
title_sort alternative careers toward job market integration: barriers faced by international medical graduates in canada
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9915349/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36767681
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032311
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