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You are evaluating these patients for a 3rd party (e.g., law firm) and thus it's not a traditional therapeutic relationship. It can often be antagonistic because you can be the expert that's evaluating a patient to deny a disability claim or for a civil proceeding or some other non-traditional medical purpose.

I think if you do more lucrative things like EMGs or medicolegal work your income potential should be higher than FM if you adjust for rate/hour. I have PMR friends that don't do any medicolegal work though as they didn't like the atmosphere with the patient evaluations so just be aware of that.

Relax before the non-stop training marathon.

Constant coffee I suppose. As you get "better" at medicine (e.g., knowing an approach to chest pain off by heart, or knowing how to take a relevant history fast) it feels less mentally exhausting. However, this is counteracted by the fact you get more pushed onto you as you get better so I guess it's a wash. Honestly, I took whatever free time I had and just rested. Exercise was on the table but sometimes I was just too tired given all the demands (clinic, research, studying, etc.). I think most people can probably handle the hours, it just won't be a pleasant couple of years. At times you

Yea, there are specific immigration exceptions for MDs made for rural need in the US but those communities seem rough to work in based on my understanding.

Perhaps there's US pressure to prevent the influx of Canadians but I honestly find that a little hard to believe as well as the number of specialists we produce is not that large in comparison to their existing training pipeline. I think the job markets for things like family medicine and neurosurgery are pretty good in the US (as neurosurg has more opportunities in the community compared to Canada). I honestly have no idea what the policy logic is as I'm assuming my colleagues learned their history facts from their professors who were probably in the know. That combined with my pessimism w

For what it's worth I used to be a professional before joining medicine as well and there are other fields where 80+ hour weeks are fairly regular and include pretty intense hours too. Perhaps there isn't the need for overnight call but weekend work can easily drive up the hours.

The government doesn't care if there aren't jobs available they just care if there is a supply which can only help them deliver patient care. My neurosurgery colleague told me that a big reason why the curriculum doesn't match up was because there was an effort to prevent a brain drain to the US a while back. I don't know if this is true as this is just their hearsay. While there may not be a full staff position there are usually random locums that people can secure which still provides the end goal of patient care which the government cares about without any consideration for the needs o

Yea, the on-call stipend as a resident (~$100?) was pretty insulting given how hard we had to work haha.

I've also never seen a list and found out mostly through word of mouth. I feel like this is almost intentional as you don't want to inform students what their options are so they stick around in Canada in high-need fields. Could be an interesting initiative for CFMS as you just need a couple of students to do some phone calls and website research to compile a spreadsheet for medical students to get informed about future cross-border employment issues.

In many ways the grueling training exists to prepare for your staff life. I think for most fields the hours do get better as staff. I will say that some of my friends do more call than they did in residency (e.g. OB/GYN in certain communities). I think it's more manageable because you know what you're doing, you're the boss now, and the hour to hour is probably less jam packed compared to an academic centre. However, I know that I'm not as fast or as energetic compared to my youth so those call shifts will take a toll as you get older (which is also supported by other older clinicians). As

100% agree. I had many weeks as a clerk and resident where it was actually 80+ hours of pure work. Literally running around trying to put out fires. It's not the norm (at least not in my specialty) but you need to be prepared because it does happen.

I would also like to emphasize that you should not bank on a pre-nup. It is not as strong a defense as people think.

The fee schedule can provide a good view in terms of what your earning potential is. At some point to hit high billings you just need to put in long hours as the codes are the codes. There are stipends and bonuses that can cloud the matter but at the end of the day most physicians will be dependent on FFS.

I agree with erring on the side of pessimism. I think there are a lot of supportive champions in medical school but the system as a whole has not historically helped students with various struggles. I would not anticipate getting special treatment just because you are a single parent.