Practicing in other provinces/States

[Guest czf]

I would like to know how hard/easy it is to practice in other provinces or the US after residence training (Med-4) in one province. My girlfriend was born and raised in Winnipeg but completed her BSc in Ontario. She has just received her acceptance to U of Manitoba but from my unerstanding she doesn't want to stay and practice in Manitoba after graduation. She's looking forward to practice in Ontario, Alberta, BC, and even the US.

 

My girlfriend is a computer-phobia so I post this question up on behalf of her . Thank you for your input.

 

czf

[Guest Ian Wong]

Hi there,

 

As far as I'm aware, if you graduate from a Canadian medical school, and do your residency training in Canada (this includes passing all the licensing exams etc), you are clear to work anywhere in Canada; the only thing you need to do is find yourself a job, and get yourself a provincial billing number.

 

Just for your information, I don't think this report is still available, but after the first round of CaRMS matching (the matching service that determines what specialty you get, and which city and province you will study it in), U of M got absolutely hammered, with unfilled spots in Neurosurgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cardiac Surgery, Neurology, Thoracic Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Internal Medicine, all of which are generally on the more "desirable" end of specialties.

 

Here's an internal link to that CaRMS report:

 

pub44.ezboard.com/fpremed101frm0.showMessage?topicID=218.topic

 

Here's an external link to CaRMS itself, and more specifically, the spots left open after the first round/iteration of CaRMS this year.

 

www.carms.ca/stats/stats21.htm#vacant1

 

From here, you can see that spots were also left open in: Anatomical Pathology, Family Medicine, Rural Family Medicine, General Pathology, Medical Genetics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Radiation Oncology.

 

As you can see, U of M in fact was probably the least popular choice for Canadian medical school graduates to go and do their residency training. I say this not with any intention to bash U of M, but rather to make the point that just because you are in U of M med school does not mean that you cannot train in your residency program elsewhere, and eventually work in a different area of Canada. I think it's quite clear from the number of unfilled spots that many U of M graduates went elsewhere to do their residencies.

 

For that kind of reason, getting a residency position in BC is relatively tougher, because many graduates of Canadian medical schools other than UBC are also competing to get the BC residency training spots. Something about the "never colder than -5 degree winters, and the never hotter than 30 degree summers" I guess...

 

Getting a residency in the States is a whole other can of worms, and is something that we've already discussed a bit in this forum. Basically, you need to write a three-part US board exam, and do electives in the States to get a US residency, in addition to likely clearing your way at the border to come to the US and study (while earning a small salary as a resident).

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

 

PS: I know your girlfriend isn't a big fan of computers, but if she has any friends who were also accepted to U of M, I'd love to have a student rep for the U of M forum here. Please toss me an e-mail at your convenience. mdpremie@yahoo.com