tanthalas Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 Hi, all, I was just wondering about Canadian students studying in other countries and returning to Canada for their residency/to practice. Is it difficult? There are horror stories out there but I don't know what to believe. I plan on attending a Canadian medical school, but if that doesn't work my second option is the USA. If that doesn't work, I want to go to the UK to study. If I go study in an international school, will I be accepted back here? What hoops do I have to go through to practice in CAnada? Your help is much appreciated and I apologize if this has been asked. Through 2 pages of threads I didn't see one dedicated to this topic. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest begaster Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 From what I've heard, it is incredibly difficult to match into residency as a foreign doctor. American schools are fine, I believe. Caribbean, Australian, and European are not. You won't be able to practice here without jumping through hoops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerroger Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 As one with applications in Australia and Ireland right now I have done some research on this. What I found is if you go overseas there are certain specialties that you will never be able to do because of the difficulty getting residency positions. Yet, the more open positions such as family med, and internal med are more open, especially in the states. Once your done residency there are a few more hoops in order to come back to Canada.... Is it possible? I know a person who got back to Canada from SGU in the carib as a family doc, which is pretty damn impressive, but also pretty rare I think... Going over seas is not the easy road to medicine. But then again, neither is living in Ontario. Pick your poison! I don't think a doc trained in a place like the University of Sydney, one of the best ranked schools in the world has to worry about being stuck driving a cab. But the type of doctor you can be will be limmited. Sad, unfair, but true. Also its hella expensive, $300,000 at some places when you factor in living and traveling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennethToronto Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 Hi, all, I was just wondering about Canadian students studying in other countries and returning to Canada for their residency/to practice. Is it difficult? There are horror stories out there but I don't know what to believe. I plan on attending a Canadian medical school, but if that doesn't work my second option is the USA. If that doesn't work, I want to go to the UK to study. If I go study in an international school, will I be accepted back here? What hoops do I have to go through to practice in CAnada? Your help is much appreciated and I apologize if this has been asked. Through 2 pages of threads I didn't see one dedicated to this topic. Thank you Search the forums harder because this topic has been discussed extensively. As always, the rule is: study medicine where you want to practice medicine. Doing otherwise may be setting yourself up for future difficulties. If Canada is somehow not an option, I would choose the US over anything else. The USMLE exams are increasingly considered equivalent to the MCCQE in most provinces (Re: from the CPSO http://www.cpso.on.ca/Info_physicians/regpol/examequiv.htm) and (don't quote me on this - check CaRMS), Canadian citizens who are graduates of accredited US medical schools are not considered IMGs and match within the same pool as Canadian grads (rather than in the special IMG group). This makes all the difference. As a US student, you would probably want to schedule some of your electives in Canada. Nevertheless, it's good you're looking into these issues. I have far too many friends setting on the path of Carrib medical education without giving much thought of what happens after. Instant gratification now, headaches four years later and significantly in debt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergie Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 Hi, all, I was just wondering about Canadian students studying in other countries and returning to Canada for their residency/to practice. Is it difficult? There are horror stories out there but I don't know what to believe. I plan on attending a Canadian medical school, but if that doesn't work my second option is the USA. If that doesn't work, I want to go to the UK to study. If I go study in an international school, will I be accepted back here? What hoops do I have to go through to practice in CAnada? Hi tanthalas! I'll try to give some insight, but please check every word any ways An IMG is in general required to open a file with MCC and pay fees (See official web site). After a period of review one can take MCCEE, after an approval of your credentials and a pass score on MCCEE one takes MCCQE (1), then one year of practice anywhere in the word is required, ->MCCQE 2 -> 2 to 5 years of residency. Depending on the province one has to fulfill some other requirements too. All prep courses + opening your file with MCC + books + living expenses => could cost you as much as 50 K and more (in addition to your debt). In general, it takes several years to go through all these exams and procedures. For instance, MCCEE is offered only 3 times a year and you have wait for your scores to be released officially for ~ 30-60 days, then, if you pass, you can apply for the next step. If you didn't, you repeat everything and wait for another 8-12 months. (For several residency programs only one attempt with a very high score is required) Not every program accepts foreign credentials. In each province you will see a lot of differences in requiremens for IMGs. And so on. You can be exempted from MCCEE and possibly from MCCQE if u took USMLEs. USMLE step2 is roughly equivalent to MCCEE. USMLE step 1 is a basic knowledge tested along with clinics in MCCEE . So, as I understand, if you take USMLEs you do one more exam but have better preparation. Caribbeans (not all but some) offer a curriculum that prepares you for the USMLEs very well and also have an advantage of offering clinical rotations in the States hospitals. Their matching rates for the States are amazing, but much more impressive than for Canada. Even though it is more difficult to find a residency position in Can being a Caribbean graduate than being a graduate from the States, it is still easier then from Australia or Europe, let alone some other countries. In any IMG case the exam scores play bigger role than in the case of Can graduates (Can grads do not take all of them though - yet another advantage). So, I would say it is worth to take another undergrad degree and improve your GPA, or to apply to the States and possibly work there than going through all these hoops and end up with a huge debt and driving taxis for years. BTW, about taxi, this is true unless you will have enough money to pay for everything from your own pocket. Hope, this helps. respectfully, s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smood Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 As far as I understand for Ontario.. if you complete a family med US residency thats ACGME (accredited) then you won't have to write any exams when coming back to Canada save for the board exam which to do you have to join a certain program to certify your training is good enough. Until you have your full license for independent practice however you can get a limited license in which you begin working under another licensed physician (supervised). This was told to me by the college of physicians and surgeons of ontario, it may be different in other provinces however and also if you specialize (ie. gen surgery or something like that). Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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