Foreign-trained Professionals Research Articles

Prior Learning Assessment of Immigrants Competences—a Systematic Review

As immigration increases around the globe, the assessment and recognition of prior learning experiences become inevitable to incorporate foreign-trained professionals. However, even though Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) is claimed to be a source of social inclusion, it encourages a dividing practice—potentially building more barriers than bridges. This systematic review analyzes the practice of PLAR in the case of recent immigrants using 39 articles published between 1990 and 2020. The research reviewed was primarily conducted in Canada and Sweden, followed by other European countries. The systematic review synthesizes the context in which PLAR is used, the difficulties encountered during the process, and the impact of the process. By doing so, it pinpoints a new baseline for future innovative research. The analysis focuses on three identified difficulties: (1) language influence, (2) labour market demands, and (3) systemic limitations. The findings raise the question whether PLAR is an appropriate tool for the assessment of immigrants’ prior learning, as the plurality in knowledge and education is not valued during the process. Therefore, overall systemic change is needed to enable social inclusion.

Managing In- and Out-Migration of Health Workforce in Selected Countries in South East Asia Region.

Background: There is an increasing trend of international migration of health professionals from low- and middle- income countries to high-income countries as well as across middle-income countries. The WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel was created to better address health workforce development and the ethical conduct of international recruitment. This study assessed policies and practices in 4 countries in South East Asia on managing the in- and out-migration of doctors and nurses to see whether the management has been in line with the WHO Global Code and has fostered health workforce development in the region; and draws lessons from these countries. Methods: Following the second round of monitoring of the Global Code of Practice, a common protocol was developed for an in-depth analysis of (a) destination country policy instruments to ensure expatriate and local professional quality through licensing and equal practice, (b) source country collaboration to ensure the out-migrating professionals are equally treated by destination country systems. Documents on employment practice for local and expatriate health professionals were also reviewed and synthesized by the country authors, followed by a cross-country thematic analysis. Results: Bhutan and the Maldives have limited local health workforce production capacities, while Indonesia and Thailand have sufficient capacities but are at risk of increased out-migration of nurses. All countries have mandatory licensing for local and foreign trained professionals. Legislation and employment rules and procedures are equally applied to domestic and expatriate professionals in all countries. Some countries apply mandatory renewal of professional licenses for local professionals that require continued professional development. Local language proficiency required by destination countries is the main barrier to foreign professionals gaining a license. The size of outmigration is unknown by these 4 countries, except in Indonesia where some formal agreements exist with other governments or private recruiters for which the size of outflows through these mechanisms can be captured. Conclusion: Mandatory professional licensing, employment regulations and procedures are equally applied to domestic and foreign trained professionals, though local language requirements can be a barrier in gaining license. Source country policy to protect their out-migrating professionals by ensuring equal conditions of practice by destination countries is hampered by the fact that most out-migrating professionals leave voluntarily and are outside government to government agreements. This requires more international solidarity and collaboration between source and destination countries, for which the WHO Global Code is an essential and useful platform.

Protecting the right to pursue a livelihood for foreign-trained professionals: toward building an enabling regulatory system

Protecting the right to pursue a livelihood for foreign-trained professionals: toward building an enabling regulatory system

Rebuilding Professional Lives: Immigrant Professionals Working in the Ontario Settlement Service Sector

Based on an online survey and in-depth interviews conducted from 2009 to 2010, this study looks at the reality of a particular group of foreign-born and foreign-trained professionals in Ontario. These are the professionals who did not get to practise their respective professions after immigration but acquired a new profession in the form of settlement work. The study identifies their pre-immigration education and work history, the reasons they left their countries of origin (or of permanent residence) for Canada, the expectations they had, the choices they made about pursuing professional practice, the efforts they put towards that or some alternative goal, and their eventual professional reconstitution as settlement workers. Following the Canadian trajectory of these dual professionals has three contributions to research into immigrant access to professions. First, their individual experiences reveal the social processes of inclusion in, and exclusion from, professional practice. Second, unlike those immigrants who are de-professionalized in the post-immigration period, our target population reinvent themselves as practitioners of a new profession and thus provide a more nuanced immigrant experience. Third, their common practice as settlement workers gives us insight into the dynamics of an emerging profession that is settlement work.

Governments Commit to Streamlining Credentials Recognition for Foreign-Trained Professionals Including Pharmacists

Governments Commit to Streamlining Credentials Recognition for Foreign-Trained Professionals Including Pharmacists

Recruiting foreign-trained professionals

Truly democratic countries recognize the right of their citizens to seek their fortune wherever they wish. However, in most instances, health care professionals are educated at great expense to their country of origin. One way of minimizing the negative effect of brain drain would be to require

Recruiting foreign-trained professionals

The editorial by Amir Attaran and Roderick Walker about Shoppers Drug Mart's practice of recruiting pharmacists from South Africa[1][1] raises an important moral point, but in my view the authors' argument is seriously flawed. As a family physician trained in South Africa, I can assure readers that

Bridging education for foreign-trained professionals: the International Pharmacy Graduate (IPG) Program in Canada

Demand for well-qualified health care professionals (including pharmacists) is projected to increase over the next 10 to 20 years. In many jurisdictions, immigration will become an increasingly important human resource to replace aging, retiring workers and drive ongoing economic prosperity and growth. Higher education has been an underutilized resource for foreign-trained professionals seeking re-qualification. Bridging education provides a structured system for continuing professional development of professionals, linked to existing curriculum, assessments and standards in higher education. The International Pharmacy Graduate Program in Ontario (Canada) has developed a model that has been recognized by the provincial government as a ‘best-practice’ for bridging education. This model consists of four elements: prior learning assessment and recognition; university-benchmarked skills enhancement education; mentorship; and asynchronous learning opportunities. Success rates on licensing examinations for those completing all components of the program currently exceed 95%, indicating the value of bridging education.

The measurement of gender earnings differentials for foreign-trained and local-trained IT professionals: The case of Singapore

Most studies on wage differentials have been conducted in the west. Few are made of the developing countries, where data on personnel profiles are generally found to be wanting. This study employs Borjas's technique to assess the effects of differences in country source of education on gender wage differentials in a first attempt to study on the wage differentials of computer personnel in a non-western country. Regression results indicate that the important determinants of earnings in the IT professions are education, total IT work experience, current IT work experience, age, gender, an engineering qualification, non-IT degrees, and overseas training. They also reveal that, male foreign-trained professionals are paid higher salaries than male local-trained professionals and that foreign-trained female professionals in the user section in general also earn more than the males.