Canada Doctor lifestyle

[1shot1opportunity]

I'm a US DO medical student with citizenship in the US and I am in the process of getting citizenship in Canada (parents were born there). I was wondering, how is the lifestyle of a doctor in Toronto vs. parts of the US?

I'm very interested in entrepreneurship and running my own practice with a few other partners. I just don't foresee myself being able to satisfy my entrepreneurial spirit in the US as a doctor.

So how is the lifestyle as a doctor in the Toronto area vs. parts of the US?

How does the pay and hours compare?

My dream is to have a practice were I can run my own hours, make a lot of money, have good patient outcomes, and invest heavily in real estate...and of course have a ton of fun in my job. I just don't foresee medicine being like this in the US right now (unless you are in derm).

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[Jinxapotato]

Hey there fella!
From the few doctors I know in Canada, it is much much chiller lifestyle, and much less law suits (cuz we Canadians are nice). So I think you'll like it in this aspect. Nevertheless, the pay IS lower, tax IS higher, and a high paying specialty (like cardiology) may actually struggle to find a job in Canada. So you probably will make less money.
Depends what you want buddy, good luck!

 

[Medstart108]

I'm a US DO medical student with citizenship in the US and I am in the process of getting citizenship in Canada (parents were born there). I was wondering, how is the lifestyle of a doctor in Toronto vs. parts of the US?

I'm very interested in entrepreneurship and running my own practice with a few other partners. I just don't foresee myself being able to satisfy my entrepreneurial spirit in the US as a doctor.

So how is the lifestyle as a doctor in the Toronto area vs. parts of the US?

How does the pay and hours compare?

My dream is to have a practice were I can run my own hours, make a lot of money, have good patient outcomes, and invest heavily in real estate...and of course have a ton of fun in my job. I just don't foresee medicine being like this in the US right now (unless you are in derm).

There aren't many jobs in Canada for doctors right now.

Family medicine is a lot better than in the US, but in Toronto, the pay is lower (more physicians for less patients and anything complex is not for you to do).

For specialties, you won't get a good job in Toronto unless you are highly competent, big shot and better than Canadian grads. Pay is probably better or similar to most specialties in the US, but it depends on the specialty and it depends on where you practice. You generally make more in rural areas and you certainly will have a lot of trouble finding a job in Toronto. The job market is insanely competitive in Toronto such that they typically hire Toronto trained physicians and those from elsewhere only if they are offering some special skill or capability. Being from a DO school will disadvantage you significantly and being from the US will as well.

You also aren't able to be enterpreneurial in Canada as a physician, we don't have the same kind of industry involvement as in the US.

 

[onelastpuff23]

I agree. The job market in Canada is completely different than in the USA. Canada is a much smaller country so the urban markets are much more saturated and Toronto itself is a challenging force.

I don't think you need to outcompete Canadian grads. No one cares where you train after you get your independent license. The challenge for you is to get your indpendent license as a DO. In addition, and the biggest challenge, is to make connections and build up your referral base

 

[UBC2014]

There aren't many jobs in Canada for doctors right now.

Family medicine is a lot better than in the US, but in Toronto, the pay is lower (more physicians for less patients and anything complex is not for you to do).

For specialties, you won't get a good job in Toronto unless you are highly competent, big shot and better than Canadian grads. Pay is probably better or similar to most specialties in the US, but it depends on the specialty and it depends on where you practice. You generally make more in rural areas and you certainly will have a lot of trouble finding a job in Toronto. The job market is insanely competitive in Toronto such that they typically hire Toronto trained physicians and those from elsewhere only if they are offering some special skill or capability. Being from a DO school will disadvantage you significantly and being from the US will as well.

You also aren't able to be enterpreneurial in Canada as a physician, we don't have the same kind of industry involvement as in the US.

Comparing Toronto to a comparable big city in the US, I dont see why the pay would be much lower, if at all. Generally FM salaries in the US are lower than in Canada, and unless Toronto is that much more saturated than Calgary and Vancouver, I dont see it being an issue. At least in Calgary and Vancouver, there is far from being over saturated, even with docs every few blocks. There is just not enough.

But with start up capital(or a bank loan), Canada is definitely far better for an entrepeneur in FM.

Now if OP is doing anything other than FM, it may not be a favorable trade off, especially if job market is bad for that specialty.

 

[Ericslv]

I'm a US DO medical student with citizenship in the US and I am in the process of getting citizenship in Canada (parents were born there). I was wondering, how is the lifestyle of a doctor in Toronto vs. parts of the US?

I'm very interested in entrepreneurship and running my own practice with a few other partners. I just don't foresee myself being able to satisfy my entrepreneurial spirit in the US as a doctor.

So how is the lifestyle as a doctor in the Toronto area vs. parts of the US?

How does the pay and hours compare?

My dream is to have a practice were I can run my own hours, make a lot of money, have good patient outcomes, and invest heavily in real estate...and of course have a ton of fun in my job. I just don't foresee medicine being like this in the US right now (unless you are in derm).

I'm not sure why you feel you can't be an entrepreneur in the US as a doctor. I know plenty of PCP's that are not dermatologist and doing well. It take money, risk and skill. Like all businesses. As a DO (or even MD) you learn stem cell, PRP, etc. and build a strong business. I know of one doc. who did a sport medicine fellowship and then did exactly that. He is doing very well. Medicine all over is getting their butt kicked in many ways. It is true that specialist are making big money right now but they just walk in and get paid. If you develop business skills you will out perform them because you will learn how to leverage that skill and scale it. With that said entrepreneurship is not easy anywhere. It's an entirely different skill you will have to learn.

If you want to be in Canada because you feel you can't make it in the US then you may not make it in Canada. It may not be tougher or easier but there may be a whole different set of rules. Most doctors I know who go to Canada or Australia etc. are just tired of the BS of US medicine. Like malpractice etc. They go there to just work and live not be business entrepreneurs.

If you go to Canada, go there because you are going to love it and love working there. Toronto is an amazing city. Canadians are great people. I use to live there. But remember that there will be challenges.