Associate Physicians

Governing Bodies

College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC or the College); Registration (Licensing) – The College is the licensing body and regulator for associate physicians in BC.

Medical Council of Canada (MCC) – The MCC ensures a standard of safe care for patients across Canada through the assessment of physicians and validation of credentials.

What is an Associate Physician?

Associate physicians are internationally trained doctors who work as part of a care team to increase health-care quality and improve patient experiences. They contribute to patient care under the direction and supervision of a fully licensed physician and build relationships with other health-care providers to make sure patients receive the best care.

The College introduced the associate physician class of licensure for international medical graduates who are not eligible for independent practise in BC.

Associate physicians:

are not licensed for independent practice and work under the direct supervision of an attending physician
are only allowed to practise medicine in the provision of services and terms set out in their employer sponsorship letter
can only work in an accredited, structured, team-based environment

CPSBC Registration

Physicians who are not eligible for full or provisional licensure with the CPSBC may be eligible to apply for licensure in the Associate Physician class.

Registration in the associate physician class permits a registrant to practise medicine within the scope of their education, qualifications, and experience in acute care, community primary care, or surgical assistant settings.

Eligibility Requirements

International Medical Graduates (IMGs) who obtained a consistent one-year accredited training requirement in connection with the role of the associate physician and meet the requirements of the CPSBC, may be eligible to apply for associate physician class of licensure to practise in BC.

Health Match BC is here to guide you as you explore your options.

Associate physicians must:

have a medical degree from a medical school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools
have completed:
- if practising in an acute care setting, a minimum of one year of accredited training as a medical or surgical specialist prior to applying for registration,
- if practising in a community primary care setting, a minimum of one year of accredited training as a general practitioner prior to applying for registration, or
- if practising as a surgical assistant, a minimum of one year of accredited training as a medical or surgical specialist or as a general practitioner including, four weeks of surgical training excluding obstetrics and gynecology prior to applying for registration, and
have a British Columbia health employer sponsor note acceptable to the College.
have Canadian citizenship, be a permanent resident or be legally able to live and work in British Columbia

Associate physicians may need to provide evidence of meeting the established requirements for:

Clinical currency in practice

Associate physicians must be current for practice at the time of registration with CPSBC.

Clinical currency is defined as a minimum of 960 hours over the preceding three-year period (24 weeks full-time) to be considered current in clinical practice.

Applicants to the associate physician class who have secured employment with a health authority are eligible for retraining to regain their clinical currency.

Learn more about clinical currency and retraining

English Language Proficiency (ELP)
The College requires that physicians provide evidence of English proficiency. Physicians are considered to have met the English proficiency requirements if:

The primary language of medical education was English, and the primary language of patient care was English, or

The applicant holds a current and valid medical licence in any province or territory in Canada, and the applicant demonstrates that they practise primarily in English.

The College may require physicians who do not meet the requirements above to take one of the following examinations:

IELTS Academic examination

Minimum score of 7 in each component.

OET Medicine examination

Minimum grade of B in each component.

CELPIP General examination

Minimum score of 9 in each component.

The test results are valid for a period of two years from the date taken.

Source verification of your qualifications

The College requires physicians who have completed medical education outside of Canada, and are seeking licensure in BC, to have certain credentials source verified.

The MCC maintains a website, physiciansapply.ca, as a centralized electronic repository of a physician’s core medical credentials, and offers a national standardized approach to source verification of credentials. Source verification is the process by which the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) sends your credentials to the issuing institution (the source) and requests that they confirm that they issued the credential and that it is authentic, accurate and valid (verification).

An applicant’s Medical Degree must be verified as “Passed” before licensure can be approved by the College.

PLEASE NOTE: Applicants are encouraged to first register with Health Match BC for an initial review of their application.

Health Authority Accreditation

British Columbia’s Health Authorities can advertise Associate Physician job opportunities and offer employment while seeking accreditation by the CPSBC. Health Authorities seeking information on the accreditation process can contact CPSBC directly at registration-assessments@cpsbc.ca.

View job postings for Associate Physicians