Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 7, 2023

Municipality of Kincardine Physician Recruiter Attends Canadian-Organized International Events

KINCARDINE, ON – An opportunity initiated by The Canadian Society of Physician Recruitment (CaSPR) recently made international outreach to medical students a possibility.

Chrystel Murphy, the Municipality of Kincardine’s Physician Recruiter and Hawthorne Community Clinic Manager, along with other Southern Ontario Physician Recruitment Alliance (SOPRA) members spent 5 days overseas attending two physician recruitment expos where they were able to directly connect with medical students, enticing them to practice here.

The annual conference of the Royal College of General Practitioners in the UK (RCGP) was October 19^th to the 20^th, 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland where over 1,000 physicians were in attendance.

The CaSPR, a not-for-profit organization in which the Municipality has an active membership, followed the RCGP event with an expo of their own on October 21^st in Dublin, Ireland. Their focus was upon the international repatriation of Canadian medical students attending Irish medical schools.

“These were incredible opportunities,” enthused Murphy. “We were able to cost share with our partners for exposure on an international stage. These expos were a whirlwind of 10-to-12-hour days spent speaking to multiple people at a time with a line-up of their peers behind them. There’s huge interest in working as a Canadian physician.”

Recruiting International Medical Graduates (IMG) became easier in the spring of 2023 following the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) amending challenging requirements for anyone trained in Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Previously, a medical degree from one of these locations meant passing difficult supervision and assessment requirements allowing a doctor to practice in Canada. With the removal of these requirements the pool of qualified people expanded, giving recruiters more leverage to address the physician shortage crisis here in Canada.

“The contact made with physicians in Glasgow and medical students in Dublin presents us with so many possibilities to explore,” said Doug Kennedy, Councillor for the Municipality of Kincardine. “Gaining over 300 contacts of potential new doctors for our community as a result of this international engagement truly emphasizes the value of our being there.”

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Media Inquiries:

Chrystel Murphy, Physician Recruiter and Hawthorne Community Clinic Manager
Municipality of Kincardine
519-396-4300 ext. 125