Going from US Med Schools to Practicing in Canada?

[BipolarBearr]

Hey!

Im an Ontarian applicant in the process of correcting very average GPA (Im doing a 5th year) and fixing a mediocre MCAT, that being said- I hear admission into medical school in the US is slightly easier simply because there are more and because DO schools are slightly less competitive. I have always heard that it is impossible to come back to Canada after doing medical school in the states (I would ultimately want to practice in Canada). Can someone please tell me what this process is like or where I can find accurate information on it?

Also, is it possible to go to a DO school in the US and ultimately come back to Canada as an MD (I assume it does not work that way), but what is the process like for someone who wants to practice medicine in Canada?

 

Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

[obiwankenobi]

If you go to a DO school, you'll still be a DO in Canada. DOs have full practice rights in Canada, as long as you go through the appropriate accreditation process. I believe that residencies for all specialties except neurosurgery are cross-recognized. However, if you want to practice in Canada from an American residency, you will be under supervision from a couple of months to a year.

[la marzocco]

43 minutes ago, BipolarBearr said:

Hey!

Im an Ontarian applicant in the process of correcting very average GPA (Im doing a 5th year) and fixing a mediocre MCAT, that being said- I hear admission into medical school in the US is slightly easier simply because there are more and because DO schools are slightly less competitive. I have always heard that it is impossible to come back to Canada after doing medical school in the states (I would ultimately want to practice in Canada). Can someone please tell me what this process is like or where I can find accurate information on it?

Also, is it possible to go to a DO school in the US and ultimately come back to Canada as an MD (I assume it does not work that way), but what is the process like for someone who wants to practice medicine in Canada?

Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

DO schools are a good option and you're correct in that they are less competitive than US MD schools. However, if you would like to do residency in Canada, you will need to apply through CaRMS. CaRMS group international medical graduates (IMGs - people who graduate outsides the US or Canada) and USDOs together in one stream, which makes it a lot more difficult to match back to Canada. Whereas, USMDs who are Canadian citizens/PRs and CMGs are grouped into one stream. This is a consideration that you need to take into account as matching back to Canada will be more difficult being a USDO as compared to a USMD.

Alternatively, you can leverage your network while in the US and match to the US through NRMP and come back after your residency. But, you need to get a statement of need from Health Canada as they only permit certain specialties. As the above poster also mentioned; for quite a handful of specialties the duration of training in the US is shorter than that of for the royal college so you will need to do a bridge once you're back by way of a fellowship, etc. But generally, there is good reciprocity between US and Canada. 

[Meridian]

There is an entire premed101 forum section on applying to US schools.  Do some browsing through there where you will find threads on applying as well on returning to Canada.   Do some reading of the FAQ created by Mashmetoo.

         http://forums.premed101.com/forum/39-applying-to-american-schools/

 

[JohnGrisham]

51 minutes ago, obiwankenobi said:

If you go to a DO school, you'll still be a DO in Canada. DOs have full practice rights in Canada, as long as you go through the appropriate accreditation process. I believe that residencies for all specialties except neurosurgery are cross-recognized. However, if you want to practice in Canada from an American residency, you will be under supervision from a couple of months to a year.

Supervision is not universal. If you get everything aligned and the right province you do not need supervision in most cases.

[JohnGrisham]

Do your medical degree, get your residency in the US and get the extra training to match Royal college lengths and youre good to go. You will still be a DO, but literally no one except premeds care about that. Youll be a licensed physician in X specialty. It akin to once you get into medical school, no one cares what undergrad you did. At the time people think "oh I'm UofT life science...Mac health sci". Once in med, zero attention is made to that.

US grads need to worry less about statements of need because of the F1 opti visa they can use for pgy1 if j1 falls through on first attempt.  H1b is also a more realistic option. If you want ortho though, youll have to match in canada or do h1b in the US. J1 SON is not offered.

If you do FM, that is the easiest and path of least resistance option tho.