licensing qualified physicians

Keri McAdoo, MD, CCFP, FCFP
Deputy Registrar

The mission of the Registration Department is to license competent physicians, to license physicians to the limits of their competencies, and to not license incompetent physicians. The task would seem simple, and it is when considering the Canadian-trained physician who has passed the Canadian licensing and certification examinations.

Access to care is the biggest issue in healthcare and the College’s leading strategic priority.  The College cannot be a barrier to the licensure of competent physicians but must have the required diligence to protect Nova Scotians from unsafe and undertrained physicians.


Access to care is the biggest issue in healthcare and the College’s leading strategic priority.  The College cannot be a barrier to the licensure of competent physicians but must have the required diligence to protect Nova Scotians from unsafe and undertrained physicians.


The task, however, becomes more challenging when considering licensure for physicians with international training, or who have yet to achieve Canadian certification. Nova Scotia relies on internationally trained physicians to help deliver healthcare, especially in under-serviced areas in the province. The decision to license such physicians, and the manner by which they are to be supervised and integrated, requires fairness, flexibility, and prudence.

There is progress to report.

With the College providing oversight and collaboration, Dalhousie University’s Family Medicine Practice Ready Assessment Program delivered its first cohort of graduates to practice in under-serviced communities.

After extensive consultation with the medical regulatory authorities, the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons is expanding its approach to exam eligibility for internationally trained specialists. As these changes are being implemented, the College continues to collaborate with Dalhousie University, the Nova Scotia Health Authority, and the Department of Health and Wellness to arrange 12-week practice ready assessments for physicians that appear to have the right qualifications.

The role for physician expanders is growing. The College licenses clinical assistants and accredits the 15 programs in which these international medical graduates work. The newly established Clinical Assistant Program for Mental Health and Addictions in the northern and eastern zones is running smoothly. In collaboration with the College, the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery is set to launch a pilot program with physician assistants, the first entry of this ancillary health professional to our province.

Access to care is the biggest issue in healthcare and the College’s leading strategic priority. The College cannot be a barrier to the licensure of competent physicians but must have the required diligence to protect Nova Scotians from unsafe and undertrained physicians.

The College is grateful to the physicians and members of the public who sit on the committees that set our licensing policies and that adjudicate applications where the candidate’s character, competence, or capacity may be in issue. They lean into the most difficult matters, of physicians with training and disciplinary histories from diverse jurisdictions, to make the best decisions for our province and our profession. Their decisions have enormous impact on communities and patients and must withstand the utmost legal scrutiny.

Registration Statistics

2020 Snapshot

This data represents a physician head count, not a total of full-time equivalent practising physicians.