Can any IMGs provide us some success stories?

[markdc]

I am a Canadian studying in Australia and my perception is that writing the Canadian exams and attempting to go home is a waste of effort. This is despite the supposed changes (ie. IMG programs).

Have any Canadians successfully returned?
Has anyone mede it into a program either than family med?

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[pattycanuck]

Yes. Specifically with regard to your studying in Australia, there were two last year Sydney graduates and one Sydney grad from a few years ago all from Ontario that got into FM via the second round of CaRMS last year - the only way to get in last year. One at Queen's, one at Mac and one at Western.

There are others who have gotten in via OBGYN and PSYC from what I recall - all second round (ie leftover) spots and Ireland/Australian and South African schooled.

I'm afraid that no one can be specific with other spots as of this year because even the highly competitive spots that were traditionally a 'no-go' area for IMGs is now open. We will have to see what happens - we've been booked off for interviews this year in FM at Queen's anyways so may be meeting you if you come over and interview - just let us know on this forum to see if we can help out and maybe give some pointers prior to your ROL submission date 😀

BTW, there are many Canadian staff here that do recognize the fantastic quality of an Australian medical education.

 

[Me an MD??]

What if someone came back to Canada and got matched to family med and wanted to do another "more competitive" residencey following that one. Since you are now in the system do you think it would be possible to obtain another residency spot in a specialty? I ask this question because i know a resident at Western that did 2 yrs of family med b4 switching to nuclear medicine. I wonder if the same thing could be done for an IMG??

 

[JBA]

I have not looked into this in a great amount of detail but from I have read, the problem with switching residency programs is the funding issue. Say you matched to FP. You would entitled to 3 years of funding from the provincial government. If you then tried to switch to surgery, which is 5 yrs. you would not have funding for the remaining 2 yrs....provided of course you only need to do two years which is unlikely. No funding means no salary and no training. Finding a place to swap into seems less of an issue. I would definitely not bet on making this my first plan to squeeze back into Canada.

 

[pattycanuck]

I have not looked into this in a great amount of detail but from I have read, the problem with switching residency programs is the funding issue. Say you matched to FP. You would entitled to 3 years of funding from the provincial government. If you then tried to switch to surgery, which is 5 yrs. you would not have funding for the remaining 2 yrs....provided of course you only need to do two years which is unlikely. No funding means no salary and no training. Finding a place to swap into seems less of an issue. I would definitely not bet on making this my first plan to squeeze back into Canada.

Note: Canadian FP is 2 years and the shortest of the residencies (PGY# is for one year fellowships and are dealth with in a separate match in PGY2) - so you can't even transfer into one IM which is 3 years. If you match into a program that is longer or equal to yours and that it is willing to take you after PGY1, feasibly there maybe a good chance. For those with ROS contracts, there maybe some fiddling around with that, but it too is feasible.

Alos, a number of IMGs that took the FM route and wanted to do a PGY3 in EM have been shafted in the fact that virtually most of them were only interviewed at the school they did FM at .. despite electives in med school and electives/selectives in EM during residency; not sure if this is a trend as IMG-PGY2s generally didn't have access beforehand, but it is one thing to keep in mind - just watch out for this in the next few years.