If a Canadian goes to an American med school....?

[Guest Mikey59]

I've been really struggling with the issue of where to attend med school and was hoping you could help with some of my questions.

 

Here's my situation: Born and raised in Canada, went to high school in Canada but moved to the US halfway through. I finished high school down here and recently finished a 4 year University degree at an American school.

 

I hope to attend a Canadian medical school and eventually practice in Canada BUT, what are my options if I don't get in to a Canadian school?

 

I have a green card so logically, I applied to about 15 US schools in addition. What is the procedure for me to return to Canada as the graduate of a US medical school at the following points:

 

1) graduate from a US med school, try to get a residency in Canada

 

Do Canadian citizens from the US qualify for round one of the Canadian residency match? Information so far on this site and the CaRMS seems to be contradictory at times. Who can I contact to find out the exact answer?

 

2) graduate from a US med school, obtain and complete a residency in the US, then try to get licensed to practice in Canada.

 

How are Canadian Born-American residency graduates licensed to work in a province like Ontario or Quebec?

 

I would like to make my return to Canada as painless as possible, so obviously getting into an Ontario school will be best for me. However, I would like to make an educated decision before plonking down $200k on an American education (if that situation arises).

 

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[Guest moo]

To answer your questions, some residency programs will consider canadians trained in the US in the first round. You have to contact each individual program to find out. I believe if you do a residency in the US, you might have to do an extra year in Canada before you can practice, not quite sure about that. I think Ontario is changing the rules though to make it easier for IMGs (although you aren't really considered an "IMG") to practice since there is a shortage of physicians.

[Guest Carolyn]

Most of this comes from my experiences with friends in the IMG programme or Cdn friends who have done med school in the states and have been unable to do their residency here in Canada. I also looked into my options when I applied to med school 3 years ago - I am by far not an expert but I hope the following will be helpful.

 

I think that it is a lot harder than moo's response - it is very difficult to get a residency in the first round of the match if you did not go to a Canadian medical school --- especially in Ontario -- I think it is easier in Quebec though. Perhaps if you are very special - i.e. way above the rest of the competition in terms of research and experience or come with your own funding you may find it easier but there are ample Canadians applying for specialty positions. If you check out the carms website http://www.carms.ca you should be able to get the actual facts as there is a link for international medical graduates.

 

The IMG system is separate from the actual carms match. Those IMGs who go through the extra year of clerkship in Canada actually have their own 'match' which happens a little later than ours - in March I believe. The IMG programme is very difficult to get into - I believe they have or are trying to expand it but it still will be very difficult to get into.

 

There is also a second match of which some international graduates can match into which I believe is different than the IMG match - the carms website should clear that up.

 

I'm not clear on the requirements for coming back to practice after residency in the US... I know one guy who is doing an extra year of residency here in order to work here - he is a Canadian who did his med school here and his residency in the states.

 

Obviously we need more physicians in Canada - there is a desparate shortage. The system still doesn't make it easy for physicians coming into Canada but I see that the main reason for that is MONEY -- we do not seem to have the $$s assigned to pay for the number of physicians that we actually need.

 

I hope that is helpful and not discouraging. Go in with your eyes wide open! Oh and HAPPY NEW YEAR.

 

Carolyn

[Guest Ian Wong]

The requirements for practicing in Canada after completing a residency in the US are ill-defined, and I think vary with each specialty.

 

For example, in the US, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Emerg all are three year residencies.

 

In Canada, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics are four year programs, and the dedicated Emerg residency is five years (there is an option for GP's to do a one-year Emerg fellowship, but this is different than a dedicated Emergency Medicine residency).

 

Many other specialties have residencies that are the same length, yet are still not completely compatible backwards and forwards between the two countries. For example to do an Otolaryngology (ENT) residency in either Canada or the US is five years. However, starting next year, completing a Canadian residency in Otolaryngology will NOT qualify you to write the US Otolaryngology exams that would allow you to practise in the US as an ENT surgeon.

 

I do not know if US ENT surgeons can come up to Canada more easily than us Canadian's going down there.

 

One place to investigate may be with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of whichever province you feel you'd be most likely to practise in should you complete your residency in the US. The bottom line is that there's no clear rule to guide you as far as ensuring your licensure to practice, and these rules are subject to evolution and modification (such as what may be happening on Ontario), so chances are good that the rules will be different by the time you've completed your residency several years down the road.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 4

[Guest Carolyn]

Well, having now met Cdns who did their residency in the US who are interviewing in the 1st iteration of CaRMS it seems to be quite possible. I was very surprised but I guess it can happen!

 

I think it is important to recognize the differences in the programs and the challenges that come with paying off the enormous debt of US schools.

 

BUT you can apply it seems.... huh!?

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Hey Carolyn,

 

The first place I heard about this topic was at a career night where the Western postgrad director was talking about CaRMS. I think it's something relatively new, to either this year or possibly last. But my understanding is that Canadians who attend Med School in the US are now eligible for the 1st round of the CaRMS match.

[Guest Lara F]

The match list from Johns Hopkins was posted online at SDN, and I noticed right away that there was a psychiatry match at UofT. I do wonder how much the "school name" helped though...but at least, it seems officially possible now.