Help! Can I come back to Canada after graduating medical school in Australia?

[Calgaria]

I have read a few posts on the forum about coming back to Canada from Australia, and it seems pretty mixed (not to mention, many of the posts are dated).
Basically, I am thinking about going to medical school in Australia (or perhaps even Ireland), and while I am excited for the possibility, I am scared I wont be able to get back home to Alberta.
I want to know if there is anyone on this forum who has graduated from an Australian medical school and has come back and is currently practising or doing their residency. I am really looking for some guidance on what your experience was like, and what are some suggestions you have if I want to come back to Canada.
Nextly, I was curious to know how the program is set up (for example, at flinders or sydney), and whether there is an opportunity to come back for rotations and electives in Canada.
I'd bet there are resources on the websites of the schools, but I must say-it's hard to find.

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[petyr_baelish]

Just some food for thought: The people who successfully made it back to Canada into a residency finished medical school before the intern shortage became real.

That said, I hope it's possible.

 

[Calgaria]

Just some food for thought: The people who successfully made it back to Canada into a residency finished medical school before the intern shortage became real.

That said, I hope it's possible.

Hey victoriah, while you make a lot of sense, and I also thought about this too, would the internship program shortage affect someones ability to come back to Canada? Since they have sort of foregone that program in order to come back and do elective rotations/residency in Canada?
From what I understood, the internship program shortage only affected you if you were planning to stay in Australia, or complete the internship in Australia to then later return to Canada.

 

[Phloston]

My good mate (also my housemate during my first year of med) here in Australia is from Edmonton. I know he had been mentioned a few times that he was worried he might not get back to Alberta because the Canadian government/medical system (whatever you have going on over there) seems to select for primarily Canadian grads. On the other hand, plans change, my friend. Now he's met an Aussie minx and is planning on doing his internship year here in Australia. Maybe you too will meet an Aussie minx.

 

[t0ny]

You simply can't base yourself on the hypothetical situation that you will marry an Aussie girl, that would be irrational

 

[rayjay]

You simply can't base yourself on the hypothetical situation that you will marry an Aussie girl, that would be irrational

I would be irrational but...it happens every year, so yes I agree with Phloston.

In answering the OP question though, I think if you are planning on leaving Canada for your medical career, a small part of you has to ACCEPT the fact that you MAY not be able to practice there in the future. It's a sad reality and yes there are going to be people who tell you "work hard enough and it'll happen" but that same logic failed most Canadians in actually getting accepted into Canadian schools (which is why most of them, if not all, are in Australia).

My two cents is that Australia is a great place to do your degree, but if you are 1000% dead-set on coming back to Canada or bust, then don't leave. When I left in February, a huge part of me wanted to come back to practice. A year one, a part of me still wants to, a part of me has resigned to the fact that I might not get to (after listening to the CaRMS presentation at Flinders this year) and a part of me is very content with staying in Australia.

Yes you can do rotations in Canada, that has more to do with a Canadian program accepting you for a rotation rather than an Australian school allowing it. Flinders allows up to 12 weeks of international rotations, all of which you can do in Canada if you choose, most Aussies choose to do it in cool locations because they don't have the same issues as us. Canadians will try and maximize their time back home, at least the ones I know who graduated Aussie programs did that....but then they all ended up staying here anyways, oh well

 

[Calgaria]

Luckily, I have my own 'minx' here in Canada. Lots of food for thought, thanks!

 

[Medstart108]

Albertans are already so lucky with their 2 medical schools that reserve 90% of their seats for in province students. Not to mention they can apply to 100% of all the seats in Ontario's medical schools.