Would you care if your doctor was foreign trained?

[AndyDude]

Yea, just curious about this. Although, IMGs are rarely matched in CaRMs, and there's definitely stigma associated with graduating MDs from the islands; would you choose an IMG as you family doctor? Would you switch if you didn't know but later learned that he/she went overseas for MD?

 

By IMGs I mean Canadians who go to caribbean etc; not doctors from other countries that were trained there before immigrating to Canada (FMG).

 

Thanks

[leviathan]

Yea, just curious about this. Although, IMGs are rarely matched in CaRMs, and there's definitely stigma associated with graduating MDs from the islands; would you choose an IMG as you family doctor? Would you switch if you didn't know but later learned that he/she went overseas for MD?

 

By IMGs I mean Canadians who go to caribbean etc; not doctors from other countries that were trained there before immigrating to Canada (FMG).

 

Thanks

 

I wouldn't mind. If they actually made it through all the barriers Canada has erected to block IMG entry, then they must be competent enough. I've seen some pretty crappy family docs who are domestically trained, so it really seems that there's much more variance within the two populations, than between them.

[TonesRN]

Unfortunately, people tend to have preconceived notions that an IMG is equivalent to a substandard medical education. This may be the case in some instances, however, in my experience with IMG docs, they have shown to be at the same level of Canadian grads or even better in some instances. I agree with the above post that if an IMG writes and passes the same examinations that Canadian grads do, then they have shown that they have the knowledge level to be deemed a competent pracititioner. I personally wouldn't care if the doc was internationally or domestically trained.

[Jochi1543]

To be honest, I'd be a bit suspicious. My current FP is South African-trained, but she was born and raised there. My former FP was Nigerian, also trained there. So I have not yet had a physician who was Canadian, but trained abroad. But then there's always the fact that some 10 years ago, it was nowhere near as hard to get into med school here in Canada. Remember when Queen's cutoffs were 3.5 just a few years ago? So I feel that there would be a huge difference between the people who went to the Caribs 10-15 years ago and people who are heading there these days.

[Jochi1543]

On the other hand, I should note that the support system in the Caribs is a lot worse than in the US or Canada; people who are not smart and motivated to take full control of their educational process will fail out in droves. I feel that a "questionable admission" here in Canada would be a LOT more likely to graduate than if that same person headed down to, say, Grenada, because no one would be holding their hand down there.

[lostintime]

My family doctor came from UT, but he doesn't even put his degree frame up in his office or anything. He's actually an orthapedic (sp) specialist too, but he's almost retiring and doesn't even put his specialist on his business card.

 

And a lot of other doctors don't either. So you really have no idea where they're from. And it's not a question patients are really going to ask their doctors unless they become all buddy-buddy.

 

There is always that stigma, but I think if I didn't know, i.e. had no idea where they did their degree, I'm certainly not going to ask. If I knew, well if I felt they were competent enough, I don't think it's a huge issue.

[rogerroger]

If you know anything about the process about getting back to Canada from the carribs you can be pretty confident those folks are not dumb and likely practice at a level that is equivalent to if not higher than domestically trained docs. The system is set up in such a way that the vast majority of the potential scary IMG docs are given the thumbs down.

 

The reality is BSc performance does not equal MD performance. It can predict but not insure. Good docs slip through the cracks here in Canadian admissions because of the great emphasis on GPA etc. If they make it back to Canada they are deserving and I would be comfortable having one treat me.

 

Don't forget SGU and Ross are not ghettos. Yes, they are not ones first choice, obviously. Yes they have big classes, yes they are for profit. But from talking to students at these places they are learning medicine and are generally content with the facilities and professors. At the end of the day beyond this it comes down to the individual.