Andrew Raven and Kevin Allerston
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 03/05) - For nearly 18 years, Bogdan Yurashchuk worked as a neurosurgeon in his native Ukraine, dealing with some of the most complicated medical cases in Beregovo, an industrial city of 25,000.

Bogdan Yurashchuk moved to Canada in 1994 from the Ukraine. He was originally trained as a neurosurgeon, but now makes his money as a massage therapist. Here he is with his PhD at his office.

About 80 per cent of his patients were facing life- threatening problems, from brain hemorrhages to spinal cord injuries.

After immigrating to Canada with his family in 1994, Yurashchuk ran into a bureaucratic brick wall when he tried to continue his medical career.

"If you do not have connections, your chances are next to nothing," said the father of two, who now works as a naturopath in Yellowknife.

"There is a need for medical services in this country (but) the system will not move one millimetre."

Yurashchuk is one of nearly 35,000 foreign-trained professionals - including an estimated 5,000 physicians - living in Canada. Many of those medical experts face a frustrating paradox. In a country starved for doctors, immigrant physicians face a sometimes insurmountable battle for accreditation, he said.

The shortage of physicians is especially acute in remote areas like the Northwest Territories, where retaining doctors in the number one challenge facing health administrators.

The Canadian Medical Association estimates there are more than 1,600 vacancies at rural practices across the country and most recent medical school graduates are shying away from remote communities. One study revealed just five per cent of specialists like obstetricians, surgeons and psychiatrists opt to work outside of urban centres.

Dr. John Morris, who hires physicians for the Stanton Regional Health Authority, believes foreign-trained doctors could help fill the void but the licensing hurdles are nearly impossible to overcome.

"The process is extremely frustrating for both me and the applicants," Morris said last week, when asked about licensing procedures. "It's not exactly and ideal situation."

Four of the 18 permanent specialist positions in the Northwest Territories are vacant and being filled temporarily by southern doctors. Just one of the specialists, a medical professor from Italy, is a foreign national, Morris said.

"Ninety-nine percent of the (immigrant) doctors I know would be happy to work in rural areas," said Yurashchuk. "But the system will not change."

Some statistics from the Canadian Medical Association suggest that may not be the case, however. A recent study determined foreign doctors were not more likely to work in rural communities than their Canadian counterparts.

Canada gave about 4,000 foreign-trained doctors permanent resident status from 1990-1998, say federal statistics, but the exact number actually working is unknown.

Yuraschuk estimates there are roughly 5,000 immigrant doctors in Canada who are uncertified.He believes those numbers are a product of system - overseen by the Canadian Medical Association - that is heavily weighted against foreigners.

"There are many qualified people who cannot work," he said. "The (medical association) is artificially keeping the number of doctors as low as possible. That makes salaries higher of course."

Aspiring foreign physicians must first pass Medical Council of Canada exam designed to test their basic medical knowledge. Specialists are also usually required to attend a Canadian medical school before entering a residency program.

Seventeen per cent of foreign applicants were accepted into Canadian universities in 2002, according to the Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials, which tracks statistics on foreign professionals. The same year, just 83 of more than 1,200 internships went to foreign doctors.

More than a decade after moving to Canada, Yurashchuk is resigned to the fact his career as neurosurgeon is likely over. "The only way I (can practice medicine) is by going back to my country," he said. "I accept that."

Still, Yurashchuk makes about $60 per hour as a naturopath touting non-surgical healing procedures - more than he ever made in the Ukraine. His boys will have the benefit of growing up Canadian. And he loves living in Yellowknife. "I can show you where my grave at the cemetery will be."