Family Practice residency in Canada --> can I work in the States?

[smilesss]

Hey guys,

So I am a Canadian who is a 4th year medical student at an American School. I am applying to do Family Practice Residency back in Canada. I have already taken steps 1 and 2 and will eventually take step 3.

Since residency in Canada is only 2 years for Family (as opposed to 3 years in the States), would I be able to apply for a medical license in America in the future? This is the only residency program that is shorter in Canada, so I am not sure how this works. I know that if it were reversed (eg. doing residency in peds in the states and trying to practice in Canada) they have required residents to make up the extra year.

Any input would be great. I want to know if I have the option to work in the states in the future.

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[MontereyMD]

It's more of a hassle doing it that way.
There is no problem as a US graduate getting a US license but make sure you do USMLE 3. As long as you have 2 years PGY-1 and PGY-2 and USMLE 3 then a US license is assured.
Some problems though as you are not Board Certified by the ABFM. To be Board Certified you need 3 years in a FM residency program. But Canadian programs are only 2 years long. So you can't be US Board Certified this way. You can get your Canadian Certification as a CCFM by the CFPC. Once you have the CCFM you can then take the US Board Exam however you have to be living and praticising in the US to be able to do this! And in order to live and practice FM in the US you need to be Board Certified. Kind of a Catch 22.
Best thing if you want to work in the US in the future as a FM is to do a US Residency and become US Board Certified. Then it's easy to become Canadian Board Certified and get the CCFM by the CFPC without writing another exam as the CFPC considers the US Board equivalent to the Canadian Boards. You just have to apply to the CFPC for the CCFM without examination. On US and Australian FM graduates can do this.

 

[smilesss]

Do you know if I did a PGY-3 in family medicine in Canada, would the AFP recognize that as a 3 year residency in family?