I left for Montreal today at 5 45 am, taking a cab to the bus station to then take the bus to Montreal to give a presentation about my medical school. While in the cab, the driver started conversing with me about what I do, where I'm going etc etc and I asked him where he was from and he said Pakistan. Following this, I asked him what he did in Pakistan and he told me he had a Masters degree in computer science and a Masters in business administration.
He said he came to Canada with his wife and then two kids (now three) 9 years ago, hoping to put together a better life for him and his family. He said that it would have taken over a year of qualifying to equalize his degree to that of a Canadian graduate, for the Masters in Comp. Sci. at least, or the MBA, one of the two. Anyway, then he was vague as to why he didn't requalify, and said that he needed to start working as soon as he got here to make some money in order for his family to be looked after. Following this, every application he's handed in has been dead-ended by people telling him he has no, and I quote, "Canadian experience".
I'm really not sure whether this whole job shutout is right or wrong. On the one hand, he has a masters degree in computer science and states that all programming (he was generalizing largely as I later found out from a programmer friend) comes down to binary code and an assembly program. On the other hand, I'm not really sure how good a Pakistani computer programmer would be in a workforce where everyone relays information and commentary on code entirely in English. I don't pretend to know anything about computer programming in this country, I'm simply relaying what someone else who is more familiar with these things told me.
I gave him my number and name and told him that, if he or his children wanted to talk to me about medical school before I leave in June, I'd be more than happy to do so with him.
The other sad story of the day was one of a doctor from Colombia who came to Canada and failed the MCCEE. Then he took the American board exam (the Step 1) and failed that exam. Now he came to my medical school's presentation and hoped he would get into the school and somehow get the slate wiped clean and be more eligible for practicing in North America, or for a residency? My more experienced colleague who actually is involved with admissions didn't have the heart to tell him that we would never accept him, so he told the doctor to send a short e-mail that would be forwarded to our admissions committee and then they would decide if it's a good idea for him to apply. On the one hand, he was a full-on doctor (a surgeon, I believe) in Colombia. On the other hand, 82% of students who take the MCCEE pass the first time, including myself, and I scored well above average. This guy either cannot speak English, or hasn't had nearly adequate medical training. I hope he finds some peaceful middle ground in North America, but judging by the performance he put forward on those board exams, it most certainly will not be in the capacity of a physician.
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