Health Authority Teams Up With Immigration to Recruit Doctors

For the first time, Nova Scotia Immigration staff will join the Nova Scotia Health Authority at an international job fair to help recruit physicians to work and live in Nova Scotia.

The health authority's recruitment team will attend the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Careers Fair Oct. 20-21 in London, England, and has asked Nova Scotia Immigration and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia for their help and expertise.

“Nova Scotia Immigration is pleased to support the Nova Scotia Health Authority in attracting more health-care professionals to Nova Scotia,” said Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration. “Immigration is one option we can use to recruit more skilled workers, including physicians, to Nova Scotia. Our role will be to provide potential recruits with information on the immigration process.”

Dr. Simon Bonnington, a family physician originally from the United Kingdom who now practices in Annapolis Royal and who immigrated here in 2010, will also join the recruitment team.

The trip is part of the health authority’s ongoing recruitment work, as well as its effort to increase its focus on the United Kingdom.

“We’ve had success with recruitment and retention of physicians from the UK,” said health authority vice president of medicine and integrated health Dr. Lynne Harrigan. “Nova Scotia has a lot to offer doctors- the opportunity to practice medicine on collaborative teams, enjoy the balanced pace of the East Coast, and be a key part of their community.”

This will also be the first opportunity to showcase some of the health authority’s new recruitment materials, which highlight the many opportunities that come with living and working in the province.

“This is part of the health authority’s continued efforts to recruit physicians to work in Nova Scotia, which is so important to our health-care system,” said Health and Wellness Minister Randy Delorey. “Sharing our combined health-care and immigration expertise will help us promote Nova Scotia as a great place to live and work to doctors abroad.”

The BMJ Careers Fair is one of Europe’s most prominent recruitment fairs, and promises access to more than 1,800 physicians.