FRCPC or CCFP-EM - the eternal EM discussion

[MDwannabe02]

On 6/2/2018 at 4:37 PM, The Bunny said:

I am a CCFP-EM working in a tertiary care hospital in BC doing full time emergency medicine. We teach medical students and residents including the occasional 5 year elective resident. I do not do any research but my center is looking to grow in that area and I totally could if I wanted. 

As for who is hiring, I finished my EM year 2 years ago. 2 of my cohort are working in large academic centers not in BC. As far as I know, the only places in Canada that restricts to hiring 5 year EM residents are VGH and maybe st. Mike’s in Toronto. Everywhere else, I have heard of CCFP-EMs being hired in the last few years. It’s all about talking to the right person at the right time. 

Thanks for your input, The Bunny! It’s very helpful to hear from a real CCFP-EM doc :)

[BCelectrophile]

On 6/2/2018 at 1:37 PM, The Bunny said:

I am a CCFP-EM working in a tertiary care hospital in BC doing full time emergency medicine. We teach medical students and residents including the occasional 5 year elective resident. I do not do any research but my center is looking to grow in that area and I totally could if I wanted. 

As for who is hiring, I finished my EM year 2 years ago. 2 of my cohort are working in large academic centers not in BC. As far as I know, the only places in Canada that restricts to hiring 5 year EM residents are VGH and maybe st. Mike’s in Toronto. Everywhere else, I have heard of CCFP-EMs being hired in the last few years. It’s all about talking to the right person at the right time. 

Sorry to bump an old post, but do you see large community hospitals in BC (eg. Royal Jubilee, Victoria General) bringing on CCFP-EMs who’ve done the “practice eligible” route through accumulating the 400 hours/year? Or are “practice eligible” CCFP-EMs seen as inferior to people who’ve done the pgy3 

[The Bunny]

They hire practice eligible EMs who have passed. Most of the other docs don’t know how you obtained it. It’s not important. 

[JohnGrisham]

1 hour ago, The Bunny said:

They hire practice eligible EMs who have passed. Most of the other docs don’t know how you obtained it. It’s not important. 

Anecdotally, my colleagues who do full-time EM, can definitely tell the difference between +1 vs practice eligible routes, when practicing in bigger centres than rural posts. The volume and type of care provision is simply just different through the pathways, and the types of hospitals you can work without CCFP EM to collect those 2000+hours. Though it probably evens out after a while, much like people say it evens out for 5yr vs +1.   

Having a focused year of full-time EM experience as a +1 trainee makes a big difference, just like having an extra 2-3 years of focused full time experience as a 5 year makes a difference.

From a hiring perspective, they will still hire you if they need you of course, and if they like you.  "don't know how you obtained it" may not be accurate, as anyone who sees your CV will see that you didn't do the +1.