American Student interested in Canadian schools

[scholj]

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Just for my own knowledge... what are the pros and cons of an American going to school in Canada? Is it particularly difficult for an American to get into a Canadian med school? How would an American who graduated from a Canadian med school fare in the battle for a residancy in the states? Is there any benefit to applying to Canadian med schools as an American?

Thanks!

 

[ssc_396]

Just for my own knowledge... what are the pros and cons of an American going to school in Canada? Is it particularly difficult for an American to get into a Canadian med school? How would an American who graduated from a Canadian med school fare in the battle for a residancy in the states? Is there any benefit to applying to Canadian med schools as an American?

Thanks!

This gets asked every month or so and a quick search would dig up more details. But in general Canadian schools are LCME accredited and so at par with American schools. However only two Canadian schools accept Americans: McGill and UofT. Of those McGill is the easier to get into. They take ~10-15 internationals/year. UofT claims to take 5/year but I think the actual number is even smaller. I met folks on the interview trail in the US who were interviewed at places like Harvard and Stanford but did not get an interview at UofT.

In terms of experience I’d say living in Montreal would be an excellent experience unlike like anything you’d get in the US – but can you take the cold?

 

[trustwomen]

dupe, sorry

 

[trustwomen]

In terms of experience I’d say living in Montreal would be an excellent experience unlike like anything you’d get in the US – but can you take the cold?

Also, can you take the socialists? 😀 They're everywhere here, and they run everything except McGill itself. (Me, I like 'em). If you're from New England, you'll be fine; if you're from the South, prepare for a culture shock as well as a climate shock.

EDIT: just noted that the OP is in Troy, NY. You'd be fine here, OP.

 

[Kakoshi]

Just for my own knowledge... what are the pros and cons of an American going to school in Canada? Is it particularly difficult for an American to get into a Canadian med school? How would an American who graduated from a Canadian med school fare in the battle for a residancy in the states? Is there any benefit to applying to Canadian med schools as an American?

Thanks!

I think there are only a few benefits to going to med school up here compared with down south. As alluded to it's harder to get in up here, much harder. It actually can be cheaper sometimes as I've heard of Americans going up to Newfoundland and doing med school there because it's cheaper than some of the schools they got into. I think you get a better clinical experience up here as well because our patient loads are heavier compared to the American experience.
Minuses are that most PD's down south are not as familiar with our schools as they are their own. We also use different units than the Americans like for Cr, Ur, bili, cholesterol just to name a few. Also some meds have different trade names and the like. This makes your transition down South a bit more difficult as well.
Unless you're planning to move here for good probably shouldn't do it in my humble opinion. Not to put down our schools or anything but if you want to do a residency down South do your med school down there as well so that you can make personal contacts. Living in Montreal is a blast but I imagine NYC would be fun too.

 

[HDMTX]

I can vouch as an American who went to MUN 🙂
It was much cheaper than my US alternatives without a doubt.
All the aforementioned points are true, and I actually stayed in Canada for my residency (opposite coast), but am going back to the US for fellowship.