Canadian Gen Surg Residency to US Pediatric Surgery Fellowship

[steezyP]

I've been searching around the forums but figured a direct answer to this question would be better than trying to cobble things together from various several-years-old threads.

I attend a non-"Big 3" (Toronto, UBC, McGill) Canadian medical school and will be applying to CaRMS in the 2015-2016 iteration. Trying to match to general surgery residency with the eventual goal of doing pediatric surgery. There are so many amazing fellowship programs in the US that I figured it would be best to write the USMLE steps to keep options open. A couple of weeks after finding out I did pretty well on Step 1, one of my research supervisors burst my bubble by saying he is unaware of any Canadians matching to peds surg in the US in the last 10 years.

Does anyone know if there is any truth to this claim? And if you seem to think it is possible, is it pretty much a prerequisite to do gen surg residency at one of the Big 3 centers, or would residency have to be done in the US as well?

Thanks in advance for any input.

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[ACSurgeon]

I've been searching around the forums but figured a direct answer to this question would be better than trying to cobble things together from various several-years-old threads.

I attend a non-"Big 3" (Toronto, UBC, McGill) Canadian medical school and will be applying to CaRMS in the 2015-2016 iteration. Trying to match to general surgery residency with the eventual goal of doing pediatric surgery. There are so many amazing fellowship programs in the US that I figured it would be best to write the USMLE steps to keep options open. A couple of weeks after finding out I did pretty well on Step 1, one of my research supervisors burst my bubble by saying he is unaware of any Canadians matching to peds surg in the US in the last 10 years.

Does anyone know if there is any truth to this claim? And if you seem to think it is possible, is it pretty much a prerequisite to do gen surg residency at one of the Big 3 centers, or would residency have to be done in the US as well?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Peds surgery in the U.S. is very competitive. 30-40 spots/year (alternates). Not sure what the match rates from canada to the US are, but if you're serious about peds surg you should attend a general surgery program with a good track record of matching residents into peds surg in the US. This requires great research opportunities and mentors that are well connected.

 

[DO_Surgeon]

I personally know a peds surgeon from Canada. Did his medical school education and general surgery training in Alberta I think and his peds fellowship at Texas Children's in Houston. He is practicing in the US. So yes, it's possible but as noted peds surgery is highly competitive no matter if your from the states or Canada. Good luck!

 

[ThoracicGuy]

I've been searching around the forums but figured a direct answer to this question would be better than trying to cobble things together from various several-years-old threads.

I attend a non-"Big 3" (Toronto, UBC, McGill) Canadian medical school and will be applying to CaRMS in the 2015-2016 iteration. Trying to match to general surgery residency with the eventual goal of doing pediatric surgery. There are so many amazing fellowship programs in the US that I figured it would be best to write the USMLE steps to keep options open. A couple of weeks after finding out I did pretty well on Step 1, one of my research supervisors burst my bubble by saying he is unaware of any Canadians matching to peds surg in the US in the last 10 years.

Does anyone know if there is any truth to this claim? And if you seem to think it is possible, is it pretty much a prerequisite to do gen surg residency at one of the Big 3 centers, or would residency have to be done in the US as well?

Thanks in advance for any input.

I knew someone who did general surgery in Canada and then did a US peds fellowship as well. This would have been about 5-6 years ago.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Most ACGME Pediatric Surgery programs in the US require that you are Board Eligible; this can be satisfied by attending a U.S. general surgery program or one approved by the RCS(C).

As noted above, Pediatric Surgery is pretty darn competitive due to the paucity of positions. I do not see data on who is obtaining those positions but I'm sure it's available. The fellowship match is run by the NRMP or you can find more information here: http://www.eapsa.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home

FWIW, there are pediatric surgery fellowship programs in Canada as well. Are you not considering them?

 

[steezyP]

Thanks for the input everyone, much appreciated. It is helpful to know that Canadian-trained surgeons have actually matched to programs in the US.

FWIW, there are pediatric surgery fellowship programs in Canada as well. Are you not considering them?

The ideal situation would be residency and fellowship in Toronto but the fellows I've gotten to meet over the last few years have for the most part been US-trained. Was trying to see if the larger US pool of programs would be an option or if I'd be looking at only a small set of Canadian programs. It would be amazing to train at Boston Children's or CHOP but even I know that notion is nothing more than a delusion haha.