HI, u.s medical education and a canadian citizen. How do I come back and practice in canada if I do a u.s residency???? Got links, info please help!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by Med4ever
HI, u.s medical education and a canadian citizen. How do I come back and practice in canada if I do a u.s residency???? Got links, info please help!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two problems. first of all depending on the residency u r doing the US version of it is probably shorter than the Canadian one...so u will have to extend ur residency to the same length as the US one. SEcondly u will be required to write all the Canadian licensing exams to make urself equivalent.
For more info search the name of the province and the name of the board that controls them under google.

Med4ever -- what province would you like to practice in? Are you/were you a resident of that province?

Ontario, is where i would like to practice and yes I am from there. Also what is the MCCQEE, is that the usmle equvalent in canada. Can anyone tell me when I should write it? After secoond year third year?

You're talking about the qualifying exam. You don't have to take that if you are at a US MD (not DO) school.

You just have to take the Canadian boards, usually after you graduate (first step). You take the second step sometime during residency, I believe. The first step of Canadian boards is similar to USMLE step II.

where do i get info for these tests u speak of?

www.mcc.ca

there are links there

You must be a graduate of an LCME accredited (i.e. MD) school in the US. The above poster was wrong to say you are excempt from the MCCQE (you, like CDN grads, are excempt from the MCCEE evaluating exam). Only a few provinces accept the steps in lieu of the MCCQE. Thus, you must write the MCCQE parts I and II (in 4th year and after 1st year of residency recommended, we usually take them with the step 2 and 3 USMLE respectively).

Finally, after residency, you have to sit the Royal College (FRCPC or FRCSC) specialty exams (usually taken at the same time as the US boards). This is where it can get ugly. There is parity in some specialties, but in those where the CDN training is longer or different, you have to make up training and correspond with the Royal College. The issue is most important for sparialties like EM (5 yrs here, 2-3 in US) and cardiac surgery (fellowship of GS in US, residency here). Usually IM, derm, rads, GS are not a problem.

Cheers

Originally posted by eddieberetta
You must be a graduate of an LCME accredited (i.e. MD) school in the US. The above poster was wrong to say you are excempt from the MCCQE (you, like CDN grads, are excempt from the MCCEE evaluating exam). Only a few provinces accept the steps in lieu of the MCCQE. Thus, you must write the MCCQE parts I and II (in 4th year and after 1st year of residency recommended, we usually take them with the step 2 and 3 USMLE respectively).

Finally, after residency, you have to sit the Royal College (FRCPC or FRCSC) specialty exams (usually taken at the same time as the US boards). This is where it can get ugly. There is parity in some specialties, but in those where the CDN training is longer or different, you have to make up training and correspond with the Royal College. The issue is most important for sparialties like EM (5 yrs here, 2-3 in US) and cardiac surgery (fellowship of GS in US, residency here). Usually IM, derm, rads, GS are not a problem.

Cheers

Actually IM Is a problem..it's 3 years in the US and 4 years here...u may have to do an extra year in the US

Originally posted by redshifteffect
Actually IM Is a problem..it's 3 years in the US and 4 years here...u may have to do an extra year in the US

Yeah, but IM fellowships are usually 3 years in length so you do end up making up the time.

I apologize for the above. I was thinking about the evaluating exam, and got confused with the qualifying exam. Everyone has to take the evaluating exams, they're like the USMLEs if you wanna practice in Canada.

Originally posted by moo
Everyone has to take the evaluating exams, they're like the USMLEs if you wanna practice in Canada. \

Everyone has to take the qualifying exam (MCCQE) (CAN/US grads skip the evaluating exam) except in the few provinces that accept the steps instead of the MCCQE. The terminology is annoying.

Does anyone know which provinces take the USMLEs in lieu of the MCCQE???

~Doc

Does the MCCQE hold the same weight as usmle in terms of determining ur residency options?

The Canadian boards play no role in determining what residency you get since they are taken after the match.

Interesting thread. I'm a Canadian citizen but US medical school and now being US reesidency trained. Does anybody have any links about where I write to about what boards to write, exams, ect... I'm in one of the odd specialities they talk about EM, a 3 year program, planning to do a one year fellowship after this. Any links or addresses anyone who knows about EM?
Nof55

Originally posted by moo
The Canadian boards play no role in determining what residency you get since they are taken after the match.


Ummmmm hate to ask a stupid question please dont flame me but if canadian boards play no role in determining ur specilty, then what determines what residency spots u can get?

Originally posted by Nof55
Interesting thread. I'm a Canadian citizen but US medical school and now being US reesidency trained. Does anybody have any links about where I write to about what boards to write, exams, ect... I'm in one of the odd specialities they talk about EM, a 3 year program, planning to do a one year fellowship after this. Any links or addresses anyone who knows about EM?
Nof55

Hey I to am canadian in the u.s and want to go into er. Can u tell me which programs are "canadian friendly" etc. Also what visa are u on f-1 h1-b j-1? U can post or pm me, i am excited to hear what u have to say.

Originally posted by Med4ever
Ummmmm hate to ask a stupid question please dont flame me but if canadian boards play no role in determining ur specilty, then what determines what residency spots u can get?

Whether you did an elective at that place (pretty important i hear), third year grades, LORs, are all pretty important.

Hey I to am canadian in the u.s and want to go into er. Can u tell me which programs are "canadian friendly" etc. Also what visa are u on f-1 h1-b j-1? U can post or pm me, i am excited to hear what u have to say.

Med4ever,
Didn't mean to give the wrong impression. I am married to an Amercian and have permenant citizenship, have actually been in the U.S. for awhile before med school so I don't require any visas. Unfortunately that means I don't know squat about canadian friendly schools. Sorry. I do know that you pretty much have an uphill battle if you are not a resident for EM spots, only 8 spots before scrambling this year. Best advice do rotations and kick butt on them.

Nof55

American married to a Canadian. Starting UW-WWAMI next year. We want to get to Canada eventually and don't worry I won't be clamoring for an urban position. We want to be based out of Whitehorse or Yellowknife. I've tried figuring this out by wading through the provincial authority websites, but it gets a bit confusing .......I'm an American, Alaskan even, and I don't speak burocracy...can't even spell it...so I'm looking for a tutor.

1.Do I aim for a Canadian residency? Statistically second iteration match looks crappy. And can I take MCCQE1 without missing too much school? It seems hard to schedule.

2.Or do I do everything in the US, most likely a FP residency which is longer in the US (3 yrs), then try to transfer......which province is the best to go through to get licensed? NWT, Nunavat, and Yukon don't have their own licensing boards and require licensing by some province....all the Provincial websites state you must be a province resident to be licensed...this seems a bit like a catch 22. What about temporary licenses...is that a good route?

3.With a doctor shortage (up north especially) why does Canada make it such a pain to transfer from the US? Especially why make it a pain in the butt for Canadians educated in the US?

American married to a Canadian. Starting UW-WWAMI next year. We want to get to Canada eventually and don't worry I won't be clamoring for an urban position. We want to be based out of Whitehorse or Yellowknife. I've tried figuring this out by wading through the provincial authority websites, but it gets a bit confusing .......I'm an American, Alaskan even, and I don't speak burocracy...can't even spell it...so I'm looking for a tutor.

1.Do I aim for a Canadian residency? Statistically second iteration match looks crappy. And can I take MCCQE1 without missing too much school? It seems hard to schedule.

2.Or do I do everything in the US, most likely a FP residency which is longer in the US (3 yrs), then try to transfer......which province is the best to go through to get licensed? NWT, Nunavat, and Yukon don't have their own licensing boards and require licensing by some province....all the Provincial websites state you must be a province resident to be licensed...this seems a bit like a catch 22. What about temporary licenses...is that a good route?

3.With a doctor shortage (up north especially) why does Canada make it such a pain to transfer from the US? Especially why make it a pain in the butt for Canadians educated in the US?

If you are a Canadian citizen (shouldn't be hard to get if you haven't gotten it already) you should be able to match no problem into a rural FP position in Canada no problem, especially if you were educated in the US. I don't suggest you do your residency in the US as that will create more hassles than not in the future. If youwant to practice in the aforementioned territories, you should aim for a residency in any of the western provinces, BC, Alberta, Sask, Manitoba. Shouldn't be too hard to land an FP spot in those provinces (they routinely go unmatched first round).

Thanks for the info. So if I take the Canadian residency route at what point do I need to start figuring out scheduling the MCCQE, and what are good resources for bridging differences in the Canadian and US education?

Well, assuming you are going to take Step II of the USMLE, I would schedule the Canadian boards at around the same time (I think there are only a few dates when you can take it). By your M4 year you'd probably have enough vacation time such that you can do this. And since you are going to UW, just drive up to Vancouver to take it, shouldn't be a problem. I've heard that Step II and the first part of the Canadian boards are very similar, with the exception that there may be more Canadian related material on the Canadian boards. I don't think there are many resources aimed at the MCCQE specifically, but you can do a google search to find your answer. In any case, I will probably be taking both Step II and the MCCQE in a couple years so I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks. I'll get back to you in a couple years. I know it wouldn't be popular in terms of job protection... but its too bad there isn't reciprocity between the 2 countries for MD, I think Americans could learn alot about the Canadian health care system beside just the waiting list horror stories. If it was limited to Citizens and Permanent Residents/Landed Immigrants it wouldn't be that impactful.

Hello fellow Canadians. I am wondering if any of you had a difficult time getting into a US residence after graduating from a US medical school. I am starting me school in the Us next year and plan on doing my residence here also. I heard that it is not a big deal for a hospital to issue the H1, is that true, or are you at a disadvange during the match if you need the visa? any insight would be appreciated!

Thanks!

If you are going for something competitive then it might hinder you. If you want to do FP, IM, Peds, etc. it probably wouldn't be that much of a hindrance. After all, lots of Canadians from Caribbean schools get an H1b every year (albeit in primary care).