UBC FOM Advises against International Med Schools

[rswim]

UBC Faculty of medicine currently has a comittee that is trying to raise awareness about the dangers of going to an international medical school. These schools (regardless of how well established) are not accredited by a Canadian body. It is strongly advised that you apply at least 4x to a Canadian school before considering an International school if it is your goal to return to Canada to practice medicine. There are no shortcuts in medicine. It isn't just Canadian medical students protecting their own interests but also protecting the safety and quality of care in our Country. We want to maintain not only the qualtiy of our post graduate education programs but also the quality of physicians that practice in this country. Unfortunately this means that only a small percentage of those who want to become doctors can and should become doctors.

 

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/students+studying+abroad+cautioned/6804393/story.html

[leviathan]

UBC can only match IMGs who have been out of practice for years to decades, so they are missing out on a large pool of fresh physicians, some of whom are probably better qualified. This issue will be remedied for the 2014 match by offering more of the OSCEs in 2013 before CaRMS deadlines.

 

I agree with goals of warning about the risks of matching in Canada after attending international schools. The rest of your comments about quality are a little shallow. If you are actually worried about quality, there are many larger problems that need to be addressed in the system.

[rswim]

UBC can only match IMGs who have been out of practice for years to decades, so they are missing out on a large pool of fresh physicians, some of whom are probably better qualified. This issue will be remedied for the 2014 match by offering more of the OSCEs in 2013 before CaRMS deadlines.

 

I agree with goals of warning about the risks of matching in Canada after attending international schools. The rest of your comments about quality are a little shallow. If you are actually worried about quality, there are many larger problems that need to be addressed in the system.

 

Agreed there are many problems and concerns about maintaining the quality of care in our country. The IMG issue is one amongst many, and likewise UBC has committees to address these issues as well. This is not meant to be a post to debate the merits of IMGs or CSAs but rather a post to advise future students of the faculty's position and help individuals make informed decisions.

[toastman]

Just as an aside, not specific to this article: I love the negative sentiment I hear from undergrad students about IMG physicians, when really they don't know anything at all about the situation. Yes, there are some people who maybe not the best candidates to receive a medical degree (I really can't comment on this, as it would be really naive for me to), but most of them get weeded out at some part of the process (kicked out during the first two years, doing terrible on the USMLES etc). Also, a few Carib schools (the big 3 at least) have professors from very reputable schools in Canada and the US...the same profs that taught you and I during ugrad, and are faculty at schools of medicine in North America. I would agree that if you have any intention to practice in Canada to NOT go the IMG route, unless you have connections in Canada. As well, the amount of work you're going to have to put in as an IMG to get a decent residency program in the States would be better spent working towards gaining admission here in Canada.

[rswim]

Had an interesting conversation today regarding a Canadian studying in Ireland wanting to return to BC for residency. Supporters of this student were arguing that the entire residency system should be entirely merit based and if the CSA-IMG is better suited than the CMG then they should have the spot. I couldn't agree more with the statement, the question is how you determine who is better. Canadian medical students are evaluated by the Canadian system (that has invested 100's of thousands of dollars in each student) over 4 years of medical school the majority of the last two of which are in a clinical setting. These evaluations are all done within an accredited Canadian system.

 

Essentially what this means is that foreign grads would would require 4 years worth of evaluations in Canada within a clinical and non-clinical setting before you could even start to compare them Canadian grads. At the very least this would take a year to compete this many evaluations.

 

So yes, if you can compare CSA-IMGs to CMGs on a level playing field then it should be the best man/woman who wins. Unfortunately, this would take millions and millions of dollars and many years to create such a system. Until then, the competition for the prime residency spots begins with medical school admissions and those that get into Canadian Schools then compete over a 4 year period to prove themselves in order for a shot at a competitive residency.

 

 

That being said, I agree that there should be spots for IMG's in underserved specialities in underserved areas and they should have their own competition for these spots. In this competition the IMGs should be evaluated on their own level playing field that will be based on a their Canadian standardized exams and OSCEs. Although this is an inferior way of fully evaluating the true quality of applicant, unfortunately we don't have the time and resources to commit a full gamut of evaluations (like the CMGs get put through) to every person who dreams of becoming a doc.

[leviathan]

I like the US based system because it works on a merit based system. I think for those gunning for a certain program or field, 4-8 weeks of close evaluation is all you need if the student is stellar.

 

Although it would benefit me, I think a merit based system is currently not a good idea in Canada because there are so few residency positions available. In the US every grad will find a spot somewhere as long as they backup with primary care and aren't picky.

 

In Canada a really weak student might end up going unmatched in favour of a strong IMG. Although from a public health standpoint I think the best doctor should get the spot regardless of their med school, I think it's unfair that a CMG go unmatched due to a foreign applicant. The only exception is the rare student who is weak because they didn't put any effort in and goofed off for 4 years.