Canadian Medical Schools and U.S. Residencies

[Premedstudent149]

Hello, I am currently a premed going to a U.S. undergrad. I am both a U.S. and Canadian citizen, and I was planning on applying to apply to both U.S. and Canadian medical schools. After medical school I was hoping to apply to some highly competitive residencies in the U.S. specifically. I was wondering if I would be at a disadvantage applying to these residencies as a Canadian medical graduate as opposed to a U.S. medical graduate. I have heard how foreign medical graduates are at a disadvantage in applying to U.S. residencies, but nothing specifically about Canadians. I would appreciate some feedback on this, thanks.

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[ndafife]

Graduates of Canadian Medical Schools really don't pursue American residencies. Last year 12/15 applicants matched. The year before 5/13 matched. Over the last 5 years 54/80 applicants have matched for a 67.5% match rate - and keep in mind that does not include 44 applicants who withdrew from the American match and 24 who did not submit a rank list (either forgot to withdraw or they did not get any American interviews). So really of 148 Canadian Medical School graduates who have applied for American residencies over the last 5 years, only 54 have matched.

Things to keep in mind:
1. If you want to do an American residency, go to school in the United States.
2. Most (though this doesn't apply to you) Canadian Medical Students are not US citizens so they run into the same visa issues FMG's run into
3. Many (not all) of those withdrawals are going to be students who match in Canada and choose to withdraw from the American Match
4. Just to reiterate, if you want to do an American residency, go to school in the United States
5. There are so few Canadian Applicants that its hard to generalize things about them - Are these superstars applying for competitive residencies? Are these people concerned about not matching in Canada so they are casting a broader net by applying in the US? Are they applicants with dual citizenship trying to return home? - IDK because that information can't be gleaned from a data table.
6. With so few applicants every year, chances are most American programs are not going to be familiar with your school and how to evaluate you as an applicant. Which will likely put you at a disadvantage.
7. Again, if you want to do an American residency, go to school in the United States

 

[Premedstudent149]

Graduates of Canadian Medical Schools really don't pursue American residencies. Last year 12/15 applicants matched. The year before 5/13 matched. Over the last 5 years 54/80 applicants have matched for a 67.5% match rate - and keep in mind that does not include 44 applicants who withdrew from the American match and 24 who did not submit a rank list (either forgot to withdraw or they did not get any American interviews). So really of 148 Canadian Medical School graduates who have applied for American residencies over the last 5 years, only 54 have matched.

Things to keep in mind:
1. If you want to do an American residency, go to school in the United States.
2. Most (though this doesn't apply to you) Canadian Medical Students are not US citizens so they run into the same visa issues FMG's run into
3. Many (not all) of those withdrawals are going to be students who match in Canada and choose to withdraw from the American Match
4. Just to reiterate, if you want to do an American residency, go to school in the United States
5. There are so few Canadian Applicants that its hard to generalize things about them - Are these superstars applying for competitive residencies? Are these people concerned about not matching in Canada so they are casting a broader net by applying in the US? Are they applicants with dual citizenship trying to return home? - IDK because that information can't be gleaned from a data table.
6. With so few applicants every year, chances are most American programs are not going to be familiar with your school and how to evaluate you as an applicant. Which will likely put you at a disadvantage.
7. Again, if you want to do an American residency, go to school in the United States

Those statistics you gave me don’t look very promising, so I’ll focus on U.S. medical schools. Thank you for the very thorough explanation you provided me.

 

[benjamin94559]

I think the Canadian Match comes out before the US match and that also causes some funk in the process to be aware of

 

[Premedstudent149]

I think the Canadian Match comes out before the US match and that also causes some funk in the process to be aware of

Thanks for bringing this up. From researching online, seems that if you get a residency spot in the Canadian match, you get automatically eliminated from the US match pool.