French Stream Residency Matching

[circlecircledotdot]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to think a little further ahead in terms of my career and the thought of residency matching is definitely on my mind. 

My ultimate end goal is to practice back in my home town that serves mainly anglophones but also lacks french speaking physicians for the francophone minority. 

I know a couple docs that have studied in Quebec and matched to English family medicine programs and I'm thinking of following a similar path (except i'm studying in Ottawa).

I have heard that French students can study and write exams in English however I'm curious to know if this looked down upon in any way? I have no issues with the language as I am fluent in both English and in French but from a realistic point of view, studying medical terminology in English would benefit me during my residency.

I am also aware of the fact that OSCE's, standardized patient interviews and in-person lectures are all in French - I am not worried about this one bit. 

[indefatigable]

I'm not sure about the answer to your specific question, but in your situation, I would say studying in French would be beneficial.  Given that a great deal of medical texts are in English, you'll likely learn most of the English terminology anyways, and you will also know the French terminology.  Even lectures in French borrow some images from English textbooks, in my experience.

  Given the tight matching scenario these days, studying in French would allow you to easily apply to French-speaking QC residencies which could be an advantage.  Finally, in general, going from French to English is usually considered considerably easier than English to French.  

[circlecircledotdot]

I have considered the Quebec residence aspect - however don't they favor QC residents? (though I suppose that at least I have a possibility). 

It's relieving to hear that going from FR to ENG is easier than the reverse. I did all of elementary and high school in French and I remember getting a bit of "culture shock" when I started reading English texts for the first time. 

It's like my brain had to be completely rewired hahaha

[indefatigable]

20 hours ago, circlecircledotdot said:

I have considered the Quebec residence aspect - however don't they favor QC residents? (though I suppose that at least I have a possibility). 

It's relieving to hear that going from FR to ENG is easier than the reverse. I did all of elementary and high school in French and I remember getting a bit of "culture shock" when I started reading English texts for the first time. 

It's like my brain had to be completely rewired hahaha

There's no explicit criteria for provincial residency, so besides the indirect advantage that residents of QC have (given rotations, contacts, networking, etc..), you wouldn't be at a disadvantage.  But just like anywhere else, there's definitely a "home school" factor.

I really understand where you're coming from - I jumped into a French-speaking med school with only a little formal education in French beyond primary (I wasn't a native speaker nor in a French-speaking region).

 Language can definitely be a factor for non-anglophones too, although since there's so much scientific/medical in English, it seems as if many non-anglophones gain a degree of facility in reading English over time (beyond the immersion of american media, movies, music..).  However, many francophone students also take translated editions of texts, even if older, since they're written in the language where they're more comfortable with for studying.   

Given your facility in English, with continued exposure to English texts, I don't think you'll have an issue switching to English.  French medical terms are sometimes unusual and wouldn't be obvious unless you had studied them, whereas English ones can be found fairly easily.