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Four new family doctors have recently started working in the Pembroke area, thanks to Ontario’s Practice Ready Ontario (PRO) program. This initiative is helping to reduce the shortage of family doctors by allowing internationally trained physicians to begin practicing more quickly in rural and northern communities.
Dr. Richard Johnson, who is the Postgraduate Director of the Pembroke Family Medicine Teaching Unit and the Clinical Lead for the Ottawa Valley Ontario Health Team, says the program has already brought positive results to Renfrew County. He shared that the area has welcomed four new doctors through the first round of the program, and more may arrive by the summer.
The PRO program was launched in 2023 to help skilled international doctors begin working in Ontario without having to complete unnecessary retraining. Instead, they go through a three-month field assessment. If they meet the high standards set by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, they are given a supervised license and begin working under the guidance of a local family physician. After this period, they can apply for an independent license and are required to serve the community for at least three years.
Dr. Johnson explained that this careful and structured process ensures only highly qualified doctors are selected. The Medical Council of Canada sets the national standards that guide this work.
In the fall of 2024, four new doctors arrived in the Pembroke area through the PRO program. They are Dr. Ali Ziaee and Dr. Helia Ghanean, who joined the West Champlain Family Health Team, Dr. Salwa Alshahabi at the Pembroke Family Medicine Teaching Unit, and Dr. Hadi Nemazi at the Petawawa Centennial Family Health Centre. These physicians are now seeing patients, many of whom were previously without a family doctor and had signed up with Health Care Connect.
People still looking for a family doctor can register with Health Care Connect by visiting www.ontario.ca/healthcareconnect or calling 1-800-445-1822.
Dr. Johnson said up to 100 internationally trained family doctors who have completed their field assessments may begin practicing across Ontario this year. He is hopeful that Pembroke and the surrounding region will welcome more of them by summer.
Sabine Mersmann, President and CEO of Pembroke Regional Hospital, thanked the local health teams and especially the Pembroke Family Medicine Teaching Unit for supporting these new doctors. She said the new physicians are not only helping more residents get access to primary care, but are also contributing to services in the hospital and long-term care homes.
Dr. Johnson added that the effort to bring more doctors to the area is ongoing. He said the goal is to ensure that every resident in the community has access to the care they need, close to home.
(Written by: Emma Butler)