CMA Foundation grants $645,000 to expand HELP, a medical-English mentorship program for newcomer doctors
The Canadian Medical Association Foundation awarded $645,000 to scale HELP, which pairs retired Canadian physicians with internationally trained doctors to improve medical English and navigation of Canadian practice.
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By Torontoer Staff
The Canadian Medical Association Foundation has awarded $645,000 to expand Health English Language Pro, known as HELP, a volunteer mentorship program that helps internationally trained physicians sharpen medical English and learn how care is practised in Canada. The grant will fund three years of growth, enabling volunteer Canadian doctors to work with at least 330 additional newcomer clinicians.
Launched in 2024 by Dr. Eva Grunfeld and ACCES Employment, HELP pairs retired or practising Canadian physicians with newcomer doctors for roughly 10 virtual conversations. The goal is not to replace formal licensure pathways but to improve language, communication and system knowledge that frequently block integration into the health workforce.
How HELP works
Volunteers and participants sign up through ACCES Employment, which coordinates matches and schedules. Conversations are conversational and case-based, focusing on clinical language, patient-centred communication and the practical differences newcomers encounter in Canadian care. Sessions take place online, and some volunteer physicians work with more than one partner.
Since the pilot began, HELP has recruited 135 volunteer Canadian physicians and matched them with 291 internationally trained clinicians across the country. The new funding will pay for program coordination, volunteer recruitment and expanded participant outreach.
Why the program matters
Canada faces a persistent shortage of family physicians, with a federal report noting a gap of nearly 23,000 family doctors as of 2022. Integrating internationally trained physicians is one short-term way to address workforce pressures, but many newcomers encounter language and cultural hurdles that slow or block their entry into Canadian practice.
Dr. Grunfeld said the medical community is committed to ensuring the skills of newcomer physicians are not wasted. She framed HELP as a practical measure to help clinicians navigate licensing processes and clinical practice nuances, and to bridge gaps that a textbook or dictionary cannot fill.
The deficit of physicians is substantial, so I think it is essential to integrate the wealth of skills and resources that are already here.
Dr. Eva Grunfeld, founder of HELP
What participants practise
- Translating clinical terminology into plain language patients understand
- Conducting consent discussions and explaining procedures
- Delivering bad news and navigating end-of-life conversations
- Adapting to Canadian expectations on patient privacy, shared decision-making and cultural competence
- Using idiomatic and conversational English in clinical settings
Mentors report that participants fall into two broad groups: those who need general English support, and those fluent in English who require coaching on the subtleties of Canadian clinical communication. Both groups benefit from practising patient-facing language and role-playing common scenarios.
You need to talk with physicians, because that is the professional environment and the way you are judged, kind of quietly. And yet you need a different way of speaking with patients.
Dr. Jeff Sisler, retired family physician and HELP volunteer
Romel Castillo, a family physician who moved from Cuba in 2021 and now lives in Brampton, said HELP taught him more than vocabulary. He described learning to invite patient values and shared decision-making into consultations, rather than simply prescribing treatment.
In my country, it is like you prescribe the medication, they take it. But here, I ask first, 'What are your values, your understanding of the condition?' I share my knowledge, and then we make an arrangement.
Dr. Romel Castillo, HELP participant
Volunteers also find the experience professionally rewarding. Dr. Janet Nuth, a retired family and emergency physician, said mentoring a surgeon from Bangladesh rekindled her interest in medicine by allowing her to see practice through another clinician's perspective.
I think it really rekindles your love of medicine to see it through someone else’s eyes.
Dr. Janet Nuth, retired physician and HELP volunteer
What comes next
With multi-year funding secured, HELP plans to scale recruitment of volunteer physicians and extend outreach to newcomer clinicians in provinces and communities not yet served. ACCES Employment will use the grant to formalise program infrastructure, measure outcomes and expand training for mentors.
Program leaders emphasise that HELP complements formal licensing and residency pathways, it does not replace them. The pathway to independent practice in Canada often remains lengthy, but organisers say improved language and system fluency can help internationally trained physicians navigate those processes more effectively.
The CMA Foundation announcement at Massey College in Toronto included physician leaders and advocates who say the investment reflects a broader commitment to making better use of immigrant talent in the health system. Organisers expect the expanded HELP program to reach several hundred more clinicians over the coming years, with the potential to speed some newcomers' integration into roles where they can contribute clinically.
For now, participants and volunteers say the conversations themselves are the programme's clearest value. They provide practical language coaching, clinical mentorship and a professional connection that many newcomer doctors lack after arriving in Canada.
HELPimmigrant-doctorsmedical-educationCMAFoundationACCESEmployment
