Woman running English-language clinic for foreign doctors out of her Winnipeg apartment

WINNIPEG | Once a week, four foreign-trained doctors gather in a ninth-floor apartment to improve their conversational English and learn more about usage, the Carillon reported.The sessions are hosted by Barbara Cansino Kaufman, a volunteer instructor who has opened up her home to these doctors, hosting sessions around her dining room table.“I understand what they feel,” Cansino Kaufman told the Carillon. Her father was also a physician, as was her late husband, Dr. Barry Kaufman, an endocrinologist and medical professor at the University of Manitoba. He died in 2008.“Over the years I met many doctors from other countries and I know how difficult, lonely and hard it is to fit in.”Cansino Kaufman is an English literature and journalism graduate who has taught English as a second language both locally and in New York City. She decided to begin helping newcomers after she saw a news story last December about the Manitoba International Medical Graduates Association, a group of foreign-trained doctors who have been working together to get their own medical credentials recognized.Two of the founders attend Cansino Kaufman’s Wednesday-evening class where they practice using medical terminology, sip coffee and enjoy treats put out by Cansino Kaufmann.She also provides free one-on-one English lessons and helps the doctors prepare medical resumes.“My first steps in Canada were so difficult,” Dr. Marina Fourman, a family doctor who has practised in Siberia and Israel, told the Carillon. But the weekly lessons at Cansino Kaufman’s have boosted her confidence.“I feel like a phoenix,” she said. “I feel great."

Woman running English-language clinic for foreign doctors out of her Winnipeg apartment

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics

Business Topic