Entering with specialty

[doctur]

Hello, I was wondering if you could tell me what the process would be like if I graduated from an international medical school and did residency to become an ophthalmogist at that country? Would I need to just pass the USMLE exams and receive license to practice in the US or Canada? Or would I have to also match into a residency program? If so what is the reason for that? And how long will it normally take for me to be able to start practice here?

 

Thanks!

[Ian Wong]

There is no straightforward answer to your question.

 

In Canada, many medical schools and residency programs from non-Canadian countries are not recognized. It is for this reason why you hear of stories of internationally-trained physicians living in Canada doing all sorts of non-medical work, because they are unable to be licensed to practice in Canada.

 

The USMLE series of exams are typically written during medical school and after the first year of residency, and therefore are not specialty-specific. The USMLE exams are US exams. As far as I'm aware, having passed those exams confers no advantage when trying to practice in Canada; far more important is that you have completed residency training in a country/institution that the Canadian Royal College or College of Family Physicians recognizes.

 

If this has occurred, then there may be pathways by which you can eventually become licensed to practice in Canada.

 

Bottom line, if you are trying to practice in Canada, it would be best to attempt to do both med school and residency here.

 

The second best option by far would be to do your med school and residency in the US, as all US MD schools are LCME-accredited, and the residency programs are ACGME-accredited, giving you the best chance of having that training recognized back in Canada.

 

If you are trying to practise medicine in Canada, any other permutation for med school (such as going to Australia/UK/Ireland/Caribbean) is setting up yourself up for additional headaches and serious hoops to jump through.

 

While you may very well be able to come back to Canada to practice, it will likely be significantly more difficult, and your choice of specialties is likely to be more limited than had you stayed in Canada or the US.

 

If all of your med school and residency training was recognized in Canada, then you may be able to start practising as soon as you pass the Royal College exam for that specialty, and get your paperwork done with your provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons. In the worst case scenario, if nothing was recognized, you might have to go all the way back to applying to medical school!

 

Ian

[doctur]

Hello Ian,

 

I have not heard of many Canadian schools accepting FMGs. McMaster accepted 2 this year I think. So, it must also be very competitive. Preferably most of FMGs like to settle in BC or Ontario but this is not always the reality for them. So, in the worst case senerio if a FMGs who is an ophthalmologist has to go through medical school in Ontario would the application process (for medical education and then residency) be any different than the average undergraduate student who applies directly from the province? (ie. different pool, special quota, faster route) The reason I ask this is because medical students who earn a MBBS, for them here it is equivalent to a BSc. However, they have gained medical knowledge that is the exact same as of the MD program here. And sometimes they have also dealt with cases that are not found here, or have learned how to work with limited number of medical equipments (making them very suitable for military medicine). So when they enter the MD program with other students who are coming from undergraduate studies or after completing masters/PhD, do they not have an advantage? How does the Canadian medical schools look at them considering all this for their MD program?

[Ian Wong]

This is impossible to know. Given that med school is typically at least 4 years, and often 6 in other countries, plus a residency that is likely at least 5 years for Ophthalmology, it would be highly excessive (not to mention expensive!) to complete all that if your eventual goal was to gain a small advantage for applying to a Canadian medical school.

 

You would still need to have completed the pre-requisite courses for that Canadian med school, which may not neccessarily have been offered during that foreign medical school curriculum. (eg. Biochem, Organic Chem, English, etc).

 

After getting accepted to that Canadian med school, it'd then be another 4 years of med school (3 at U of Calgary or McMaster), plus ANOTHER 5 years of Canadian Ophthalmology residency....

 

Ian