dh1986 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Hello everyone, I am in my first year at a residency program in the USA, but I have some urgent family reasons that require me to move to Canada. So I am hoping to be able to transfer to a residency program there. I am very familiar with CaRMS and I know there are only a few provinces I can apply to via CaRMS. Does anyone know of the transfer process from the USA to Canada? Has it been done? Who should I contact? My PD is very supportive, should I ask him to contact a PD there? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Transferring is impossible internationally. You need to go through Carms. Residency positions are provincially funded, and the policy is strict on this. Money is allocated fairly firmly to you and your initial position at PGY1. There is no money allocated by provinces for new transfers. In the rare situation a resident may transfer within the same province. That's how tight the situation is. Transfers even within a school are very difficult, nevermind a province or another country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dh1986 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 thanks for your reply. what about the second iteration of carms? what are the chances of getting accepted in that? do you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mavrik13 Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Transferring is impossible internationally. You need to go through Carms. Residency positions are provincially funded, and the policy is strict on this. Money is allocated fairly firmly to you and your initial position at PGY1. There is no money allocated by provinces for new transfers. In the rare situation a resident may transfer within the same province. That's how tight the situation is. Transfers even within a school are very difficult, nevermind a province or another country. The bolded is definitely not true - I know of at least two residents who have successfully, and at different points in their residency, transferred between provinces. It certainly sounds more difficult (because of the provincial funding issues), but far from impossible. OP: Take a look at the CaRMS website, in the statistics section, you will see the number of spots in the second round, what specialties were available, where they were available, and the number of applicants (broken down by where they applied from, I believe). Keep in mind a lot of the schools with spots left over in the second round are french speaking. Bottom line, there are a lot of applicants for very few spots, especially when it sounds like you will be limited in location. Why do you mention you can only apply to certain provinces in CaRMS? Perhaps you should contact CaRMS for their opinion, but I have a feeling you will have to wait for the second round . Could you arrange to do away 'electives' at the school(s) you would potentially be interested in applying to in the second round? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dh1986 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Thanks for answering. Well technically I cannot apply to Quebec, Alberta or BC because Quebec needs you to complete all MCC exams as well as French exams to be eligible. And Alberta and BC have specific rules that you have to live in the province before applying. So that limits those options. But, I guess the other provinces are still possible. I can try to do an away elective but that might be very difficult given my requirements here at the program. Any thoughts on what could boost my application? Maybe have my PD email/call the PD at the program I'm applying to? I'm no different than any other applicant applying, who all have their reasons. I just have urgent family concerns that require me to move back, and if I don't secure a spot I may have to leave here and be unemployed :S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infamyofinternal Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 As an IMG you should be happy you even matched and are an R1 in the US. Don't hold your breath for a transfer to Canada. Did you apply to carms when you applied to the US residencies? If you did that, then zero chance for another app cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dh1986 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 what does it matter if i applied last year to carms or not? why do u ay zero chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sohaloh Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 what does it matter if i applied last year to carms or not? why do u ay zero chance? Just curious, I hope you don't mind but is it not possible to travel to and from the US now and then to your family? Supposing you are a Canadian national/PR wouldn't it be easier to visit a couple of times a month for a day or two? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dh1986 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 travel is not an option. my family needs me there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubcredfox Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Then Carms is your option. I have never heard of someone transferring residencies into Canada from the USA. I have also heard of very rare circumstances where someone has transferred from one province to another in Canada. I can think of 1 case in the last 4 years. It is all beaurocracy, and you are not going to win against it. You will not get funding to train, you will be an unkown, you will be circumventing the traditional canadian match process et cetera. Transfer would be impossible, sadly. Sorry. But, if you are dead set on trying it, try it. And simultaneously get a Carms app ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonto Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 As an IMG you should be happy you even matched and are an R1 in the US. Don't hold your breath for a transfer to Canada. Did you apply to carms when you applied to the US residencies? If you did that, then zero chance for another app cycle. This is true. theres no 'transfering'. You have to apply as a new applicant. If you got your med degree in the USA then you could apply second iteration or take a year off and apply as a cmg first iteration and you'd probably be fine. If you are an IMG, i wouldn't give up a usa residency spot no matter then circumstance. Unfortunately you are not the first nor last person to have serious personal issues while away from family in residency - it sucks but thats life. Seeing if your residency program will let you take a year off or any time off if its so necessary to be home is your best bet. otherwise I wouldn't just drop the spot you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughboy Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Thanks for answering. Well technically I cannot apply to Quebec, Alberta or BC because Quebec needs you to complete all MCC exams as well as French exams to be eligible. And Alberta and BC have specific rules that you have to live in the province before applying. So that limits those options. But, I guess the other provinces are still possible. I can try to do an away elective but that might be very difficult given my requirements here at the program. Any thoughts on what could boost my application? Maybe have my PD email/call the PD at the program I'm applying to? I'm no different than any other applicant applying, who all have their reasons. I just have urgent family concerns that require me to move back, and if I don't secure a spot I may have to leave here and be unemployed :S I know three people who have transferred from residencies in the states into my program in the last 10 years, including one last year. I don't want to get your hopes up, because it's really rare, but sometimes it does happen. They all transferred into PGY-5 having done 4 years in the States already. I don't know if that's some sort of weird co-incidence or not. I don't know how they did it, I don't know where the funding came from, and I don't know any of them well enough to ask. It probably won't hurt to touch base with the PD of the program you're interested in and briefly but politely explain your circumstances and why you're interested in transferring. You might get shut down right away but you might not and there's only one way to find out. Also likely can't hurt to have your current PD touch base. You never know what weird connections people have, especially if you happen to be in a small field. Speaking of your current PD - have you discussed possibly taking a leave of absence? Urgent and acute situations have a way of either resolving or turning into chronic states of affairs. If there's a chance that whatever is going on will stabilize in the next 12 months or so that might be another option for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dh1986 Posted February 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 thanks for your thoughts and advice. do you mind letting me know what university you are in? If you want send me a private message. I would appreciate that. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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