ER fellowship in Canada after training in USA?

[geese]

I'm currently in PGY-2 in FM. Interested in doing EM fellowship in Canada after I graduate. I'm a canadian citizen and plan to go back home after I'm done. Can anyone shed some light on this? I know usually FM residency in Canada is 2 years and the 3rd year is considered the fellowship but I'll be PGY-4 in fellowship since residency is 3 years here in the states. I'd like to get CCFP-EM certified in Canada. Any input would be appreciated!

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[diphenyl]

Completely doable. Have a lot of Canadian colleagues and am familiar with their EM system. This is completely achievable. The board certifications between the US and Canada are interchangeable and your residency will be recognized in Canada. The only problem with the fellowship is it isn't recognized as equivalent to ABEM certification in the US. If you want to practice in Canada, you're good, however if you want to come back to the US, you will be a little limited geographically.

 

[geese]

I plan on practicing in Canada after I complete the fellowship. Appreciate the insight!

 

[styphon]

Completely doable. Have a lot of Canadian colleagues and am familiar with their EM system. This is completely achievable. The board certifications between the US and Canada are interchangeable and your residency will be recognized in Canada. The only problem with the fellowship is it isn't recognized as equivalent to ABEM certification in the US. If you want to practice in Canada, you're good, however if you want to come back to the US, you will be a little limited geographically.

Is this true? In my residency we had lots of canadians (since we are literally right on the border) and they all took both the USMLE steps and the canadian version. We also had an American go to canada for ER, who also took the canadian version of the USMLE before going.

 

[diphenyl]

^ There are two routes to practice EM in Canada.
You could do the traditional categorical EM program which is 5 years long. The ones who pursue this are ones who want to practice in academics and major tertiary referral centers.
Then there is the CCFP- EM route. This is 2 years of family medicine residency followed by a 1 year EM fellowship. FM residency programs are only 2 years in Canada. These are the guys that want to do community practice. They can work in over 80% of the ER's in the country however you usually don't see too many of them in the big ivory tower institutions in major cities.

The only thing the sucks with their FP route is it isn't recognized as equivalent to the ABEM if you wanted to practice in the US. The only one that is recognized are the guys coming out of the 5 year categorical program. Ahhhh politics.

Your colleagues probably took the Canadian licensing exam because they are Canadian citizens. It's also easy for Canadian program directors to compare apples to apples exam wise when they applied for fellowship. I believe for Americans who are done with residency and board certified, our USMLE are viewed as equivalent and gives us full practice rights in most provinces up north.

 

[septoplasty]

^ There are two routes to practice EM in Canada.
You could do the traditional categorical EM program which is 5 years long. The ones who pursue this are ones who want to practice in academics and major tertiary referral centers.
Then there is the CCFP- EM route. This is 2 years of family medicine residency followed by a 1 year EM fellowship. FM residency programs are only 2 years in Canada. These are the guys that want to do community practice. They can work in over 80% of the ER's in the country however you usually don't see too many of them in the big ivory tower institutions in major cities.

The only thing the sucks with their FP route is it isn't recognized as equivalent to the ABEM if you wanted to practice in the US. The only one that is recognized are the guys coming out of the 5 year categorical program. Ahhhh politics.

Your colleagues probably took the Canadian licensing exam because they are Canadian citizens. It's also easy for Canadian program directors to compare apples to apples exam wise when they applied for fellowship. I believe for Americans who are done with residency and board certified, our USMLE are viewed as equivalent and gives us full practice rights in most provinces up north.

This is only partially true.

CCFP-EM match goes through CARMS which requires one to have MCQEE etc. meaning 3 exams even if you are ABFM certified.

Yea. Major PITA.