Any trouble matching if you're an American at a Canadian School?

[kattyboomboom]

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Specifically matriculating at McGill med as an American?

 

[redpoint]

I went to McGill and I had no problems matching at a top residency program. My entire class did VERY well in the match. If I remember correctly for internal med, almost everyone went to a very competitive program.....Columbia, Cornell, MGH and the Brigham. It was similar for surgery and surgical subspecialties. I am american and McGill was my first choice for med school. I got into lots of american medical schools but I went to McGill for many reasons. I think it has a stellar international repuation (especially in the academic medical world), it is in a great city (Montreal) with great food, arts and culture and it is significantly less expensive than many american medical schools. It is also nice to do something different for a few years.....leave the U.S. and learn a new language (though McGill is an english speaking school and french is certainly not a absolute requirement). I would go as far to say that attending McGill was the best decision if I have made so far in terms of my career. Please contact me if you have any specific quesitons.....

 

[redpoint]

Also....students at McGill are definitely not IMGs....there is no difference between american and canadian medical students with regard to this issue. Going to a U.S. residency is the same as if you were at a U.S. med school. In fact, McGill students, as mentioned previously, do very well in the match. Almost everyone in my class, including canadian students, took the USMLE. The difficult thing would be STAYING in Canada to be a practicing physician if you are american...in that case you would have to take the Canadian medical board exams (which are much tougher than the U.S. exams) in addition to filling on loads of paperwork.

 

[SoCuteMD]

Just wanted to chime in to say that I've heard being a McGill grad is akin to being a Harvard/Cornell/Duke/top 10 school grad. The few McGill grads I know certainly back this up.

Congrats.

 

[ratched]

I don't have the exact stats, but something on the order of 6-7 of the 30 or so McGill students who entered the American match this year matched to a Harvard program. Historically, approximately 90% of McGill grads get their #1 choice residency.

While neither of these statistics fully answer the original question, I think you can rest assured that attending McGill will not limit your residency options. Whether McGill is on par with Harvard, Columbia, UCSF, etc. as opposed to NYU, Rochester, Emory (with regards to reputation) is anyone's guess.

I fully agree with everything redpoint mentioned, as well.

 

[neutropenic]

And remember all Canadian schools are LCME schools, just like Puerto Rican ones.