Maybe the key isn’t forcing us to stay against our will; maybe it lies in making Quebec health care an environment in which we want to stay.
Inadequate and outdated technology aside, language laws have also been alienating world-class talent. English is the universal scientific language. I am bilingual and regularly speak French, with the understanding that I should be able to speak in whatever language results in the best communication with patients.
Even if limiting doctors’ right to choose where they want to work was ethical, it isn’t justified by the claim that medical trainees must compensate the government for the cost of education. First of all, medical students and even residents, who have already earned their MD, still pay tuition, putting many of them hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
Dr. Caroline Esmonde-White is doing her residency training in surgery at McGill University. This piece reflects her own opinions only, not those of her department or university.