Psych ROL - program comparison

[Pomme]

There was a post comparing the different psych residencies across the country a few years ago. Can anyone chime in (pros and cons in terms of call, culture, exposure) to help with my ROL? I am considering staying in Ontario (where family is) or moving to Quebec (McGill) but the significantly lower pay in Quebec is putting me off. 

 

[collegedude22]

You should not base your ROL on the salary. It is a minuscule difference in pay that amounts over 5 years to less than 1 month’s pay as a staff physician. Ironically, Québec has some of the most generous billing codes in several specialties once you are staff. This quickly negates the differences in resident salary between provinces. 

[HoopDreams]

On 2/24/2024 at 9:02 PM, Pomme said:

There was a post comparing the different psych residencies across the country a few years ago. Can anyone chime in (pros and cons in terms of call, culture, exposure) to help with my ROL? I am considering staying in Ontario (where family is) or moving to Quebec (McGill) but the significantly lower pay in Quebec is putting me off. 

 

Please don't choose a program because the average pay of specialists/residents that you found online is lower.
The priority of your training program is to make you the best psychiatrist you can be so that you can offer the best care to your patients.

A few points : 

• Factors to consider to help you choose a program : 
  • Choose based on : quality of training, presence of family/friends in the city, wanting to live in that city, etc.
  • Your pay as a resident or staff should not be a factor to help you choose the training program that will shape your career forever.
• Salaries of specialists found online
  • As a potential medical specialist in Québec/Ontario or anywhere in Canada, you will make way more than enough money.
  • Earnings found online have no context : part-time versus full-time, multiple revenue streams, working across two provinces, etc.
  • And if you want even more, you can simply be creative (locum/private/legal/etc.)
• Working where you train
  • Even if psychiatrists made triple the salary in Ottawa, there is no guarantee that you will work where you train.

Best of luck!

[shikimate]

You should consider the pay of staff for your specialty, not the resident's salary. Pay for specialties can differ significantly between provinces. Also home field advantage is very important for jobs, so choose an area where you want to work/live at least for the medium term. Psych is a field with shortage, rather than surplus, so I'd say there is good chance that if you train in city X, you can establish a network in city X and work there.

And IMHO, pay as a staff have SIGNIFICANT effect on residents in their first 5 years of practice, especially with this high interest environment and someone who have high LOC. Don't forget interest compounds. A province with HCOL, lower pay can really put a negative damper on planning for family, retirement, housing etc. This is especially true for residents who are planning to expand their family. Just read the posts on PFI FB forum, and you get a sense of the real concern a lot of new staff regarding their finances these days.

To get an accurate sense of billing, you can consult provinces whereby billing is public, such as BC and NB.