For those planning on practicing medicine in Ontario

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Just wanted to give you guys a heads up on the OMA and Ontario government's negotiations failure. If you're interested check out this article:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...otiations.html

Basically: the government is in a ton of debt so naturally they start cutting down important services like education and medicine. They are trying to save around 1 billion dollars in physicians wages and other medical cut backs over the next 4 years. Normally this wouldn't bother me considering the current economic situation (the money has to come from somewhere) but this is the same government that wasted 1 billion dollars a few years ago in that e-health scandal:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...h-auditor.html

Possible effects: Although nothing is certain at this point (the OMA is a very powerful lobbying group and no agreement has been reached yet), there will possibly be salary clawbacks (they take a certain percentage from physician wages after billing) and even a potential provincial salary cap meaning that the government allocates a fixed amount of money for all the docs in Ontario so that more docs = less pay per doc. This may be an important factor for those taking out a serious amount of debt to study in Ireland and UK.

It is still very early in the process so its not something to be worried about just yet although it is a matter to keep an eye on as there may be additional adverse effects on IMGs. This isn't a warning of any kind, just a consideration to take as this has happened in the past and things didn't work out so great for Ontario physicians and IMGs.

Interesting.

We could also look at this optimistically. It could result in less CMG applicants to Ontario! What I'm saying is, perhaps if someone is just super desperate to return to Ontario (loved ones, business, favorite strip club) then I doubt the money would be a huge issue. I'm from Quebec, if money was a big issue for doctors around here, we wouldn't have any.

@Setto

Im from Quebec too. Are you currently in medical school?

Originally Posted by t0ny

@Setto

Im from Quebec too. Are you currently in medical school?

Not yet. Leaving for RCSI in the fall. Thank god too, else i would be missing out on all the fantastic riots going on in MTL during my exams.

Oh that's awesome! I just finished my 3rd year now. You mind if I ask you a few questions?

#1 what was your cGPA
#2 when did u write your MCAT and how much did you score?
#3 Why did u choose RCSI??

I'm just curious because Ireland might be an option in going to consider due to my gpa only being 3.5

Originally Posted by t0ny

Oh that's awesome! I just finished my 3rd year now. You mind if I ask you a few questions?

#1 what was your cGPA
#2 when did u write your MCAT and how much did you score?
#3 Why did u choose RCSI??

I'm just curious because Ireland might be an option in going to consider due to my gpa only being 3.5

#1: Well i wasn't a really standard applicant. Due to work/real life I was part time for my fist few years of University. My GPAs were as follows:

Y1 - 3.00/4.3 (*shiver*)
Y2 - 3.56 /4.3
Y3 - 4.13/4.3 (full time)
Y4 - 4.3/4.3 (full time)
Y5 - 4.3/4.3 (full time)

As far as cGPA, i'm not really positive. The US estimated it around 3.5, but I think the schools really enjoyed my upward trend more than anything.

#2: I wrote the MCAT on August 18th 2011. I Scored a 31 (11/10/10) don't really remember the written, but it was nothing to boast about.

#3: I have always been interested in international medicine (doctors without borders type stuff) and i wanted to attend an internationally renowned institution with a lot of history. RCSI seemed a good fit. I'm also a fan of their small class sizes and early clinical experience. I have a friend who attends so he gave me a lot of first hand info.

BONUS #4: My extra curriculars were mostly research based (neurophysiology) as well as volunteer work in various clinical environments. Splash in some sports and other junk.

Oh thanks for the great info!

You went to Concordia? Thats where i currently am, Doing double major in Psych and Biochemistry. Im actually very much looking into RCSI. You didn't get any luck in Quebec schools? You could have gotten into western or queens with those stats.

Anyways if I have questions about RCSI can I pm you? that would be great

Sure thing. Western or Queens, or any school in Ontario really, is pretty difficult for an OP to get into. I'm not the type of person to sit around and just buff up my CV for a year waiting for a Canadian school to accept me. I have far too many close friends who have ended up wasting years of their lives doing that. Some people do not have the option to fly away to a far away that, but I do, and for that I'm definitely blessed.

Oh, and yeah Concordia.