Readers continue to be intensely interested in the ongoing diplomatic row between Saudi Arabia and Canada. As Carly Weeks reports today, more than 1,000 Saudi medical graduates working at Canadian teaching hospitals must leave the country by Aug. 31. Many of today’s comments are from that article. We’ve also selected comments from an exploration by Shelby Blackley of Susan Cain’s book on introverts, “Quiet”.
The early departures are the latest development in a chaotic situation that’s having a ‘destabilizing effect’ on parts of Canada’s health-care system, one senior administrator says.Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
I personally don't think this will actually have a significant impact on health care. The news is overdramatized. I'm a medical resident and in all honesty, there is more loss of opportunity to current residents as a result of a system flooded by foreign trainees. There are more than enough individuals to step up to fill the gap. It may mean hiring a few more fully trained staff as well, many of which are underemployed. - dx1
I am puzzled as to why the hospitals, medical schools, and ministries of health allowed themselves to be so caught up in a position that has no robustness. While I can make no sense of the Saudi actions, I can also make no sense of the planning and decision-making of our own health authorities. The latter have been caught with their own created problem, a total over-reliance on medical residents and trainees from one very unstable country and region. - Gavin Perryman
Given that there are a finite number of places for residents in teaching hospitals, perhaps these spots can be better utilized by soon-to-be physicians who will remain in Canada and fill our gaps in health care delivery. - LL Trippe
These kind of arrangements are not something the average person is even aware of. In Hamilton, 15 per cent of resident doctors have no real ties to Canada or to our medical system and they don’t cost us anything! It goes to show that our healthcare system is in much worse shape than the government lets on. Maybe it’s time for a system more like the British where there is both public and private health care and private health care subsidizes the public system. - Sue Howard
From Susan Cain’s Quiet taught me the oft-overlooked power of introverts by Shelby Blackley
This is one of the best books I've ever read. It brought me to tears. Beforehand, I thought there was something wrong with me because I was drawn to extroverts and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't be confidently "open" all the time. Turns out, I'm a social-introvert. Life is much better, now that I'm not trying to be someone I'm not. - Mare2011
I am a happy introvert. Like Leonard Cohen sang: I like it slow. I want to be there last. - Rocheda
Another book you really should read is The Introvert Advantage: How Quiet People Can Thrive In An Extroverted World by Marti Olsen Laney. It’s not just for introverts either. It tells everybody how to deal with introverts in various parts of life, including at school, at work, in a marriage and when dealing with children. - bartron2
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