Introduction: The recent pandemic has highlighted the need to fast-track the integration of Internationally Educated Healthcare Professionals (IEHPs) into local healthcare systems. Therefore, it is necessary to advance our understanding of how psychological and contextual determinants (i.e. identity, migration history, discrimination, and professional norms) impact IEHPs' health beliefs and behavioural dispositions.


Purpose: This study critically examines how IEHPs navigate vaccine-related decisions, considering their intersecting identities in the context of transitioning between different healthcare systems. It also investigates the role IEHPs perceive themselves as having in shaping the vaccination decisions of others, particularly where patient-provider concordance in culture, language, or migration history enhances their potential influence.


Method: The study draws on 22 qualitative interviews with IEHPs across a range of ethnic, gender, and professional backgrounds currently practicing in Canada. Transcripts were coded using NVivo 2012, following a multi-level intersectional approach. Efforts were made to remain sensitive to power dynamics within healthcare systems and social hierarchies.


Results: Generally, participants expressed pro-vaccine attitudes. Some participants expressed dissatisfaction with the study's questions, arguing that medical knowledge is universal and IEHPs' positions on vaccinations would align with those of individuals trained in Canada. While IEHPs acknowledged the influence of intersecting identities (i.e. sex/gender, race/ethnicity, religion, profession, migration history) on vaccine attitudes, they suggested that IEHPs might be reluctant to voice their vaccine hesitancy due to economic necessity and employment precarity. They believed they could play a crucial role in promoting future public health initiatives among communities with whom they shared language, culture, and migration background.


Conclusions: This study challenges the dominant deficit-based framing of IEHPs and highlights their unique capacity to contribute to culturally aligned health promotion interventions. However, the influence of structural marginalization and employment precarity on IEHPs' professional autonomy and voice is a potential constraint that requires further investigation.