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At RPAP | Health Workforce for Alberta, we are often asked about the steps to effective recruitment. Simply, there are four essential steps:
- Finding suitable candidates including Canadian graduates and International Medical Graduates (IMGs)
- Licensure through the provincial medical regulatory authority, which in Alberta is the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA). Candidates are required to meet the associated Canadian exam requirements and some may need a Practice Readiness Assessment
- Relocation, and for many physicians, immigration
- Integration of the physician into the medical community; and the family into the community
Our experience in Alberta and elsewhere demonstrates that to be most effective, a strong collaborative partnership amongst the physician practices, the local health facility/Alberta Health Services and the local community is the key to success.
No single piece of this three-fold partnership will be successful, on its own, without the help of the others and without all the partners playing their distinct, supportive role. The energies of the three partners are best harnessed through a functioning community attraction and retention committee, which RPAP | Health Workforce for Alberta can help establish and support.
In 2013-2014, RPAP directly assisted 32 Alberta community attraction and retention committees, and hosted a provincial attraction and retention conference exclusively for Alberta communities at which best practices were shared. If your community would like to know more about the role of a community attraction and retention committee, and have our assistance to establish one, please contact us at: 1-866-423-9911 ext 109 or e-mail consultants@rpap.ab.ca