I spoke with a fellow Canadian in US Medschool

[trymeover]

So I was talkin to this guy who came back into town (in Canada) after finishing medschool in the US.

 

And I'm personally interested in US medschools because I don't think my chances for Canada are great.

 

But he told me that I should really try to get into canadian medschool or else do dentistry or pharmacy because US medschools weren't worth it.

 

He was a smart guy and worked very hard to match into a competitive residency. But he said that the healthcare reform will change everything.

 

Everybody thinks that there is a shortage of Doctors in the US as it is reported on the news. But what they don't tell you is that the shortage is really in the Family Doctor area for Rural communities.

 

The reason there is a shortage is because being a family physician in these rural communities pays nothing. Infact there are many doctors who are making a loss and have had to shut down practice!

 

So the healthcare reform will basically get these doctors more money so that they can serve these areas. But to get this to happen, the reform will indirectly take away money from specialists in the US. What's wrong with that though, right? Specialists make a ton of money, taking away some won't hurt. Wrong.

 

Specialists in the US aren't like specialists in Canada. US specialists have a ton of competition, and most of them are condensed in Urban areas as that's where they can get most of the money. The competition that a specialist has to go through in the US is unknown of in Canada.

 

And now, taking away revenue from those already bustling specialists in the US makes the situation really glum.

 

So this guy was telling me that he really wished he had gotten into a Canadian medschool, because right now he feels like the work he had to do to become a specialist in the US was not worth it.

 

Then he commented on how SCrewwed the Canadians in the Caribbeans are because it's near impossible to get even a satisfactory residency for them. Most will probably come back, or become underpaid family doctors in the US.

 

Lesson: Get into Canadian Medschool. Or else do dentistry or pharmacy.

[Prothrombin]

Does this person want to come back to Canada or want to practice in the US? There's nothing wrong with going to a US medical school and then taking the Canadian equivalency tests to get your license, in fact there are several people on SDN who have or are in the process of doing it.

[Tango Charlie]

My uncle is a thoracic surgeon who moved from Canada (Toronto) to the US (Albany, NY) and made lot's more money and was much happier overall than he was in Canada. My father, a general surgeon, almost followed suit, but decided not to because myself and my brothers were really into hockey and they didn't have much hockey where he wanted to go. But he would have made more money as a surgeon where he wanted to go (Finger Lakes area) too.

 

My anecdotal evidence challenges yours to a duel to the death.

[foregoneconclusion]

So I was talkin to this guy who came back into town (in Canada) after finishing medschool in the US.

 

And I'm personally interested in US medschools because I don't think my chances for Canada are great.

 

But he told me that I should really try to get into canadian medschool or else do dentistry or pharmacy because US medschools weren't worth it.

 

He was a smart guy and worked very hard to match into a competitive residency. But he said that the healthcare reform will change everything.

 

Everybody thinks that there is a shortage of Doctors in the US as it is reported on the news. But what they don't tell you is that the shortage is really in the Family Doctor area for Rural communities.

 

The reason there is a shortage is because being a family physician in these rural communities pays nothing. Infact there are many doctors who are making a loss and have had to shut down practice!

 

So the healthcare reform will basically get these doctors more money so that they can serve these areas. But to get this to happen, the reform will indirectly take away money from specialists in the US. What's wrong with that though, right? Specialists make a ton of money, taking away some won't hurt. Wrong.

 

Specialists in the US aren't like specialists in Canada. US specialists have a ton of competition, and most of them are condensed in Urban areas as that's where they can get most of the money. The competition that a specialist has to go through in the US is unknown of in Canada.

 

And now, taking away revenue from those already bustling specialists in the US makes the situation really glum.

 

So this guy was telling me that he really wished he had gotten into a Canadian medschool, because right now he feels like the work he had to do to become a specialist in the US was not worth it.

 

Then he commented on how SCrewwed the Canadians in the Caribbeans are because it's near impossible to get even a satisfactory residency for them. Most will probably come back, or become underpaid family doctors in the US.

 

Lesson: Get into Canadian Medschool. Or else do dentistry or pharmacy.

 

The issue with your story is that going to an American medical school really is the best option to come back to Canada besides going to a Canadian school. There is no better option and as a Canadian studying at an accredited American school, you can match in the first round of carms. Sounds like your friend went to the States to become an American doctor and bathe in money. Can't say I blame him but I don't sympathize with specialists that get paid exorbitant amounts and talk about reform like it's a bad thing. Some leveling out is necessary to ensure that healthcare is accessible.

[trymeover]

My uncle is a thoracic surgeon who moved from Canada (Toronto) to the US (Albany, NY) and made lot's more money and was much happier overall than he was in Canada. My father, a general surgeon, almost followed suit, but decided not to because myself and my brothers were really into hockey and they didn't have much hockey where he wanted to go. But he would have made more money as a surgeon where he wanted to go (Finger Lakes area) too.

 

My anecdotal evidence challenges yours to a duel to the death.

 

Dude, my story has to do with healthcare reform and competition. The specialists have been doing alright in the states except for the past few years, and now it's really gonna get sketchy. So if your uncle moved in 1995, then your anecdotal evidence is not relevent.

 

The duel of death is over, I win, you die.

 

The issue with your story is that going to an American medical school really is the best option to come back to Canada besides going to a Canadian school. There is no better option and as a Canadian studying at an accredited American school, you can match in the first round of carms. Sounds like your friend went to the States to become an American doctor and bathe in money. Can't say I blame him but I don't sympathize with specialists that get paid exorbitant amounts and talk about reform like it's a bad thing. Some leveling out is necessary to ensure that healthcare is accessible.

 

Anybody who wants to be a doctor wants to get paid 'exorbitant amounts', or they wouldn't have the heart to go through the gargantuan struggle. And there's nothing wrong with this. What is wrong, is not admitting to this.

 

Moving on, you are absolutely positively correct in what you said about matching back in carms. And I asked him about this also! He said it'd be almost inconvenient to do all of this because during the 4 years of medschool everybody works hard to make some connections, settle somewhere, research the best options around...etc. Then if he applied to carms and got in, he'd have to replicate that 4 years of effort again. It's not as easy as it seems to move from one country's system and schooling for 4 years to another.

[AdamP]

Your friend is just speculating like everyone else. No one knows how it's going to effect docs in the us just yet, the reforms were mild at best. I think US docs are going to be the highest paid on average in the world for a while to come.

[lostintime]

People in the Caribbean do match to Canadian schools...it's not like it's impossible. But yeaaa, if you're the one that got screwed over and not part of the successful graduates, then not so good.

[trickybox]

Dude, my story has to do with healthcare reform and competition. The specialists have been doing alright in the states except for the past few years, and now it's really gonna get sketchy. So if your uncle moved in 1995, then your anecdotal evidence is not relevent.

 

The duel of death is over, I win, you die.

 

 

 

Anybody who wants to be a doctor wants to get paid 'exorbitant amounts', or they wouldn't have the heart to go through the gargantuan struggle. And there's nothing wrong with this. What is wrong, is not admitting to this.

 

Moving on, you are absolutely positively correct in what you said about matching back in carms. And I asked him about this also! He said it'd be almost inconvenient to do all of this because during the 4 years of medschool everybody works hard to make some connections, settle somewhere, research the best options around...etc. Then if he applied to carms and got in, he'd have to replicate that 4 years of effort again. It's not as easy as it seems to move from one country's system and schooling for 4 years to another.

 

There's a difference between getting paid 'exorbitant amounts' and financial security. And most would agree that financial security is only one of MANY reasons to pursue medicine.

 

Does your "source" know exactly what's going to happen in terms of healthcare reform in the US? I also wish you'd do more research on healthcare reform. The point is to increase salaries for PRIMARY CARE physicians, and not just physicians in rural areas. Dear god.

 

Don't forget, there's just as much competition for competitive specialty positions in tertiary centres (especially urban areas) in Canada.

[Tango Charlie]

Dude, my story has to do with healthcare reform and competition. The specialists have been doing alright in the states except for the past few years, and now it's really gonna get sketchy. So if your uncle moved in 1995, then your anecdotal evidence is not relevent.

 

The duel of death is over, I win, you die.

 

The point is that you're relying on anecdotal evidence. How their healthcare reform will impact doctors is pure conjecture at this point. There's a misleading sense of certainty your unnamed source seems to have, and I think it's unjustified at so early a date.