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Residents are pressing for a solution as soon as possible.

“These are not medical students. These are fully trained doctors at the end of their training,” said Dr. Emily Stewart, president of Resident Doctors of Canada. “Everything should be done to ensure they can practice medicine and care for patients in the face of this pandemic.”

“We are a resource in this time of need that could be mobilized on an expedited basis,” said a letter sent anonymously to the National Post from a group calling itself Concerned Family Medicine Residents. “We can help, please let us.”

The Royal College said Tuesday it now hopes to begin scheduled March exams in the last week of April and early May, unless the situation changes further.

The two colleges and the residents’ association are also pushing provincial regulators to issue provisional licences to the new physicians until exams can be held.

Doing so should be possible, though giving out so many temporary licences at one time has never happened before, said the regulators’ national representative.

These are not medical students. These are fully trained doctors at the end of their training

Once students finish medical school they’re considered doctors, but must undergo five-year residencies to become specialists and two-year programs to qualify as family practitioners. The college of physicians and surgeons in each province awards the licences that allow doctors to practice independently — once they have passed their specialty exams.

With the federal government recommending most Canadians work at home and use other forms of “social distancing,” the two certifying bodies say they can’t safely conduct exams that bring together large numbers of residents and evaluators.