SfC In The News
 
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March 2002

"What I was meant to be"
Physician from India struggles to pursue her medical career in Canada 
 
by Jim Wilkes
Toronto Star Staff Reporter

Callista Phillips wanted to be a doctor since she was a little girl.

Both her parents were physicians, so it seemed natural that she'd be one, too.

 
JIM WILKES/TORONTO STAR
 
QUIET DETERMINATION: Callista Phillips was bitterly disappointed that her medical background meant so little when she came to Canada. But she has worked steadily to attain the qualifications she needs to resume her doctor's career.
But five years as a family doctor and a surgeon in India didn't mean a thing when she immigrated to Canada in 1998.

Her specialty certificates in laboratory medicine and pathology didn't seem to be worth the paper they were printed on, either.

But Phillips hasn't given in to the roadblocks she faces in her quest to resume her medical career.

"I'm a doctor," the 36-year-old mother said adamantly.

"That's what I was always meant to be."

Even though doctors are in short supply across Canada, Phillips found it's incredibly tough for foreign physicians to convince certification boards that they're qualified to practise medicine.

"The first statement I read in a booklet from the Medical Council of Canada was that it is virtually impossible to get any training positions in Canada for people who graduated outside this country," she said.

"That made me feel very bad."

Phillips considered seeking a research position but just couldn't abandon her calling.

Neither would she abandon her new country, to which she'd come with husband Trevor and son David.

"I thought it would be better for him to grow up here," she said.

"When I was in India, I always thought the grass was greener on the other side of the ocean.

"Now that I'm here, it really is greener."

A turning point, she said, was a visit to Skills For Change, where she met other foreign-trained doctors in the same position.

The organization arranged a co-op placement with a dermatologist, where she did office work and was allowed to observe patients.

A similar placement followed with a doctor at Toronto General Hospital, although she could simply watch, not touch.

"But that helped me a lot," she said. "It helped me understand the Canadian system."

Last year, she was one of 36 candidates chosen from more than 300 applicants for the Ontario International Medical Graduates Program and was assigned to the medical school at Queen's University in Kingston.

She recently completed a radiology internship at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital and is in the midst of the residency selection process that will eventually lead her back to full certification.

"I still have a long way to go," Phillips said.

"It's just a matter of hard work, determination and being in the right place at the right time. If you continue pursuing your dreams, you can always make it in Canada."

She says her motto is: "Troubles, like the hills ahead, straighten out when you advance on them."

Phillips is hopeful her troubles are nearing an end.

"Being a doctor here is an opportunity to give something back to the community that gave to me," she said. "People were so good to me when I came to Toronto.

"So it means I can help other immigrants, other people in similar positions.

"A positive attitude can get you whatever you want."