US med school - steps to take after graudation

[PaedsDoc]

Hey everyone!

 

So this question has been on my mind for a while, and I don't really know how to start looking into this, so I would appreciate any useful websites/ help that I can get.

 

It looks like I will not be attending a Canadian med school after all (after applying 3 times and being rejected) - so I have applied & gotten in at a top 20 US school this year. Hence, I have a few questions in regards to future planning.

 

First question being

 

1) If I was to stay in the US (i do not have US citizenship or PR) - how would I be able to work there as a physician? Are work visas hard to get as a physician?

 

2) What can I do to increase my chance of coming back to Canada?

- I hear that doing clinical rotations in the summer is supposed to boost my chances of coming back. How do I do that?

- From what I undestand, graduating from US would not make me IMG. I will have my USMLE 1 & 2 completed by the time I graduate med school in the US. What are the tests/ steps that I would need to come back to Canada? Would I just apply to Carms?

 

3) Is it easier to return to Canada before I do my residency or after I am finished my residency in the US?

 

Thank you so much for your help guys!

[keith_015]

1) Unless you get a hard sought after H1B sponsoring residency or marry into the US, then you likely would be on a J1 visa for residency and forced to return to Canada following residency (for 2yrs I believe). I'm sure you wouldn't have trouble otherwise getting a US job, especially if US trained.

 

2) You apply in the same stream as Canadian educated Canadians for CaRMS, and not as an IMG. It would likely help to do some rotations in Canada, especially in schools you would be interested in doing residency at. Typically not mandatory. Read CaRMS info about admissions for the different programs to see what guidance they give as to this. In the end, you should have some actual experience in the physician environment in Canada.

 

3) Before. Visa issues are sticky. When you get to that point in time, you could always apply to NRMP and CaRMS, with CaRMS traditionally matching first (thereby withdrawing you from NRMP).