USA (Carribean) vs Ireland MD

[Harshbir Brar]

Hi,

I'm going into my 3rd year of my BSc at UBC and don't see myself being admitted to a Canadian medical school, at least not in my first year anyways, so I wanted to explore my options. Currently the 2 primary options I see are going to the US, most probably the Caribbean but possibly a school in Ohio or Michigan as well. As far as I'm aware I would need to complete my Bachelors and take the MCAT and get admission in the US after completing my undergrad. For Ireland however there is a 5 year program available provided certain requirements are met/classes taken in the in-progress undergrad.

Do Ireland and US graduates fall into the same category of IMG or is there a difference between the 2 nations?

Is it easier to be matched with a residency from an MD from a school in the Contiguous United States vs the Carribean vs Ireland?

How would the process for completing my residency in the US and transitioning over to Canada for family practice work? Or is that not possible?

[thecanadian]

You need to do more of your own research. These are basic questions. 

[Edict]

Just an FYI, the Caribbean is not part of the US.

Do Ireland and US graduates fall into the same category of IMG or is there a difference between the 2 nations? 

US MDs are considered CMGs for the canadian match, US MDs and DOs are considered AMGs for the US match. Caribbean MDs and Irish MDs are always considered IMGs everywhere. 

Is it easier to be matched with a residency from an MD from a school in the Contiguous United States vs the Carribean vs Ireland?

Easier from the US by far. 

How would the process for completing my residency in the US and transitioning over to Canada for family practice work? Or is that not possible?

Its doable, not hard. 

[bearded frog]

13 hours ago, Harshbir Brar said:

Hi,

I'm going into my 3rd year of my BSc at UBC and don't see myself being admitted to a Canadian medical school, at least not in my first year anyways, so I wanted to explore my options. Currently the 2 primary options I see are going to the US, most probably the Caribbean but possibly a school in Ohio or Michigan as well. As far as I'm aware I would need to complete my Bachelors and take the MCAT and get admission in the US after completing my undergrad. For Ireland however there is a 5 year program available provided certain requirements are met/classes taken in the in-progress undergrad.

Do Ireland and US graduates fall into the same category of IMG or is there a difference between the 2 nations?

Is it easier to be matched with a residency from an MD from a school in the Contiguous United States vs the Carribean vs Ireland?

How would the process for completing my residency in the US and transitioning over to Canada for family practice work? Or is that not possible?

I agree with the above poster that if you're serious about med school you need to do some reading.

To make a long story short. For Canadian citizens, Canada MD > USMD >> USDO >>> UK/Ireland ~= carribean. Some specific types of applicants may have more success in the US vs Canada but generally if you're not compeditive in Canada you're going to struggle in the US as well. USMD can apply to canada residency and US residency equal to canadian MDs. USDO are second tier for canadan residencies but first tier for US residencies, UK/ireland/carribean are second tier for both US and canada residencies, and have pros and cons for both. I've seen more ireland students in Canadian residency, but the Carribean graduates I know that matched all matched in the US. It's easier to get into UK/ireland/carribean/australia medical school but much harder to match back for residency, so it's really just delaying the bottleneck. Only a specific type of applicant who is noncompetitive for US/canada applicants will succeed internationally (generally someone who is self driven who is a few years out from a terrible GPA but has overcome whatever it was that made them a poor student and will excel with a second chance).

[Harshbir Brar]

On 1/2/2022 at 7:55 AM, thecanadian said:

You need to do more of your own research. These are basic questions. 

Thanks for adding such a great wealth of knowledge to the discussion. Hard to comprehend how far back we'd still be without your contributions.

[Harshbir Brar]

On 1/2/2022 at 10:41 AM, Edict said:

Just an FYI, the Caribbean is not part of the US.

Do Ireland and US graduates fall into the same category of IMG or is there a difference between the 2 nations? 

US MDs are considered CMGs for the canadian match, US MDs and DOs are considered AMGs for the US match. Caribbean MDs and Irish MDs are always considered IMGs everywhere. 

Is it easier to be matched with a residency from an MD from a school in the Contiguous United States vs the Carribean vs Ireland?

Easier from the US by far. 

How would the process for completing my residency in the US and transitioning over to Canada for family practice work? Or is that not possible?

Its doable, not hard. 

Thank you for this, it's exactly what I was looking for.

[thecanadian]

8 minutes ago, Harshbir Brar said:

Thanks for adding such a great wealth of knowledge to the discussion. Hard to comprehend how far back we'd still be without your contributions.

Your welcome!

[Pakoon]

1 hour ago, Harshbir Brar said:

Thanks for adding such a great wealth of knowledge to the discussion. Hard to comprehend how far back we'd still be without your contributions.

This says a lot lol.

[Em__]

On 1/2/2022 at 2:41 PM, Edict said:

Just an FYI, the Caribbean is not part of the US.

Do Ireland and US graduates fall into the same category of IMG or is there a difference between the 2 nations? 

US MDs are considered CMGs for the canadian match, US MDs and DOs are considered AMGs for the US match. Caribbean MDs and Irish MDs are always considered IMGs everywhere. 

Is it easier to be matched with a residency from an MD from a school in the Contiguous United States vs the Carribean vs Ireland?

Easier from the US by far. 

How would the process for completing my residency in the US and transitioning over to Canada for family practice work? Or is that not possible?

Its doable, not hard. 

US have many medical school in Caribbean. Some school have the Canadien accreditation.  :-)  

[bearded frog]

22 hours ago, Em__ said:

US have many medical school in Caribbean. Some school have the Canadien accreditation.  :-)  

The only "US" school in the Carribean is in Puerto Rico. None have Canadian accreditation.

[artichokesreview]

Great question! It is good you are thinking ahead. Going to the US is definitely your better option: 1) it is still fairly easy to get accepted compared to Canada 2) if you wanted to go back to Canada you wont be considered in the same pool as IMGs, you will be a USMG which is different. If you went to Ireland or Caribbean this is a different story, you will be considered a IMG and your chances of matching is smaller.

[bearded frog]

2 hours ago, artichokesreview said:

2) if you wanted to go back to Canada you wont be considered in the same pool as IMGs, you will be a USMG which is different

This won't be true by the time this poster graduates. USMD will now be considered IMG for CaRMS and CMD will be considered IMG for US residency now. That being said, I think going to a USMD will have a lot of advantages vs other IMG for CaRMS.

[Edict]

11 hours ago, bearded frog said:

This won't be true by the time this poster graduates. USMD will now be considered IMG for CaRMS and CMD will be considered IMG for US residency now. That being said, I think going to a USMD will have a lot of advantages vs other IMG for CaRMS.

With US MDs becoming IMGs, this will really put pressure on the IMG spots if there are a lot of US MD Canadians that want to return. However, I suspect what it will mostly do is push Canadians to stay in the US, few want to deal with the headache of a RoS and many may not be interested in the specialties that most IMG spots are in. The added effort and work of trying to dual apply may just make it not worth it. 

[bearded frog]

13 hours ago, Edict said:

With US MDs becoming IMGs, this will really put pressure on the IMG spots if there are a lot of US MD Canadians that want to return. However, I suspect what it will mostly do is push Canadians to stay in the US, few want to deal with the headache of a RoS and many may not be interested in the specialties that most IMG spots are in. The added effort and work of trying to dual apply may just make it not worth it. 

I think in the end it will depend a lot on which match goes first, if the US match is first I think the numbers of USMD applying to IMG spots will be low, however if CaRMS is first then it may be a different story, but again with the option for US match as a backup, it might not be the same "apply everywhere to everything" mentality.