Board Certified — But Will the Gulf Recognize How You Got There?

If you are practising independently as a physician in Canada or the United States, it is reasonable to assume that your Board certification and current position will carry considerable weight when applying for a Consultant role in the Arabian Gulf Region.

Usually, they do. But there is another question that is becoming increasingly important in our physician screening:

How did you obtain that Board certification? After any years recruiting physicians for hospitals in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf, we have learned that the name of the qualification does not always tell the whole story. Alternate certification routes, affiliate programs, practice-based pathways and fellowship-based routes can sometimes be assessed differently by Gulf licensing authorities. And unfortunately, this is sometimes discovered quite late in the recruitment process.

When DataFlow Is Successful — But Classification Isn’t This is an important distinction. A successful DataFlow report verifies the qualifications, licences and experience submitted by the physician. It does not necessarily mean that the licensing authority will classify the physician at the level expected by the hospital or candidate.

We recently dealt with a Family Physician practising in Canada who had obtained her CCFP through an alternate pathway rather than completing a Canadian Family Medicine residency.

She interviewed successfully, received an offer from a hospital in Saudi Arabia and completed DataFlow without a problem. When her application reached the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) through Mumaris, however, she was asked to provide evidence of her Canadian residency.

Well .. There wasn’t one.

Several weeks were spent trying to resolve the issue, but ultimately the pathway through which she obtained her CCFP did not satisfy the classification requirements being applied to her case.

Current Position Doesn’t Always Tell the Whole Story We encountered something similar with a Consultant Neonatologist currently practising in Canada.

His original specialist training and qualifications were obtained outside Canada, and his route into Canadian specialist practice was through an affiliate pathway. He was working successfully as a Consultant Neonatologist, received a Saudi hospital offer and completed DataFlow.

Again, the difficulty arose during professional classification, when the route behind his Canadian recognition became important.

His current title in Canada did not automatically answer the question SCFHS was asking: What was the training pathway that led to this specialist recognition?

A Different Route Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Rejection

Our third example had a different outcome. An Ophthalmologist practising in the United States had followed an unusual pathway involving four fellowships before eventually becoming eligible to sit the American Board of Ophthalmology examinations. He subsequently obtained Board certification and had several years of practice in the United States.

During his Saudi classification, additional documentation was requested explaining exactly how he had reached Board eligibility. It delayed the process by several weeks. But ultimately, he was approved.

And that distinction is important. An alternate or non-traditional training pathway should not automatically be treated as a reason to reject a physician. It may simply mean that the case requires additional documentation, clarification or individual assessment by the licensing authority.

Ask the Question Early

For physicians considering Saudi Arabia, the UAE or Qatar, the lesson from these cases is fairly simple.

Don’t wait until after the interview, offer and DataFlow process to discuss how you obtained your specialist qualification.

If your route involved an affiliate program, alternate certification pathway, equivalency assessment, practice-based recognition, multiple fellowships or another non-traditional route, mention it early.

For hospitals and recruiters, the same principle applies. Seeing CCFP, FRCPC, an American Board, FRACP or another recognized qualification on a CV should not always end the qualification discussion.

Sometimes we need to understand what sits behind it. That doesn’t mean questioning the physician’s competence. It means identifying a potential licensing issue before the physician and hospital invest months in a recruitment process.

One Question Can Make a Difference

At IHR, our physician screening has evolved considerably over the years. Today, when the training history isn’t clear, we don’t simply ask:

“Are you Board Certified?” … We also ask:

“I can see when you obtained your qualification, but I couldn’t see the route through which you obtained it. Can you tell me a little more about your training pathway?”

It’s a small question. But in international physician recruitment, asking it at the beginning can sometimes save everyone weeks or months of problems later.