Anesthesiology: From US Residency to Canadian Practice

[SageCraft]

I was wondering if any of you smart chaps have any insight into this situation. I am a Canadian Citizen who went to SGU and am presently an Anesthesiology resident in the US (J1 Visa). Some of you may know that Anesth Residency is 4 years in the states, 5 in Canada.

Are there any other specialties with such discrepancy? If so, what are the options? I've attempted to read through all the Canadian legislature BS but it's too much for me to handle right now.

Can I sit the Royal College exam with only 4 years of residency training? Will doing a fellowship in the US count as "year 5"? The easiest option is to stay in the states....but my Canadian family and fiancee are pretty important to me.

Any words of advice would be appreciated.

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[Giemsa]

Can I sit the Royal College exam with only 4 years of residency training?

No, I don't think so.

Will doing a fellowship in the US count as "year 5"?

I think yes.

Talk to the HealthForceOntario people. Ontario has a "third pathway" for American trained MDs to practice in Ontario without the residencies being precisely equal in length, AND without doing the additional exams (LMCCs, Royal College, etc.)

Call up the Health Force Ontario people and talk to them. They are recruiters for the province, and are apparently eager to get people settled in a job there. You can also browse job openings on the site to see what kind of positions you'd be looking at by going this route (the third pathway is, of course, a way to fill the positions that haven't already been taken by Royal College trained people, but I get the impression that there are still plenty of reasonable positions).

Application for the third pathway

This is the only province I'm aware of that has this streamlined return, although if you're interested in underserved/rural/remote areas, other provinces may be willing to make exceptions, too.

 

[SageCraft]

Thanks Giemsa! That helps a lot. Although I believe I'm Pathway 4 Regardless, now I know where to get more info.

 

[NewCanadian]

Many US programs fall short of RCPSC requirements in number of years. You could pursue a one year fellowship in the US. It should be ACGME accredited so that the RCPSC will recognize it as the PGY5.
The RCPSC won't admit you to the Anes. exam with four years; you have to do five. You can sit the RCPSC exam in spring of your PGY5/fellowship as long as you get the Preliminary Assessment started a year in advance.
Even if you don't take the RCPSC exam, you would be competitive because you will have a total five years of training.

You would use CPSO Pathway 4 (not Pathway 3), if you decide not to take the RCPSC exams.

 

[SageCraft]

I spoke with someone at the Royal College and here is the deal. There is no way to get around coming back to Canada after 4 years of Anesth residency. My only option is to do an accredited fellowship to count as my 5th year. In Anesthesia we do not have a "Chief Resident" 5th Year nor does a year of being an Attending/Associate Professor count as training.

Unfortunately there are only four accredited fellowships right now (CT, Pain, Critical Care and Peds). Fortunately I wanted to do Pain anyways.

Seeing as I am being trained in the US I'm actually not considered an IMG. So according to the spokesperson I can write the Royal College exam after 4 years of training. I would just be doing it during my fellowship year which i guess works out.

Hopefully this will grant me access back to my homeland...hopefully...
Thanks again to those with sage advice

 

[PistolPete]

Thanks a lot for providing this information! It's very helpful. Good luck on your return to Canada! Just another question: did you ever consider the H1B visa? Was the visa issue a hard one when applying to US residencies, especially since you are a Canadian (and I assume without US permanent residency)?? Thanks,
-PistolPete