Physicians returning from remote regions after three years’ continuous practice

A PTEM compliance notice cannot be denied to a doctor who has practised continuously for at least three years in one of the areas listed in Appendix XII of the FMOQ-MSSS Agreement*, even if the PTEM is full:

• The doctor must undertake to practise principally in a sub-area;
• Practice carried out under the locum mechanism is not considered in the calculation of principal practice in a remote region;
• Principal practice is deemed to be continuous if it is carried out without interruption of more than 24 months in one or more regions contemplated in Appendix XII of the Agreement.

The granting of compliance notices to physicians returning from remote regions evolves in line with the PTEM implementation period and its status (full or not).

• A doctor returning from a remote region after three years’ continuous practice who applies during the initial application period will be given priority by the DTMF for obtaining a position in the sub-area of his choice in which inter-regional mobility positions (places MIR) are posted.
• If the number of doctors returning from a remote region exceeds the number of positions available in a given sub-area, the DTMF will have to make a selection. Unselected physicians returning from a region will be offered a sub-area in which positions are available, on a priority basis.
• Following the initial application period, and as long as a region’s PTEM is not full, a physician returning from a remote region must obtain a notice of compliance with the PTEM of a sub-area not filled via inter-regional mobility.

• When all positions in a region’s PTEM are filled, the DTMF submits to physicians eligible for this rule a list comprising at least three sub-areas among which they can choose to obtain a compliance notice.

As long as the region’s PTEM is not full, a doctor returning from a remote region cannot be counted as being surplus to the PTEM.