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I have also posted this message under the thread "A question for Upper Year Canadians in Ireland" (which is a great thread for Canadians studying at Irish med schools by the way). I thought it would be good to start a new thread with this message since many people may miss it in the other thread.....
I am a Canadian in his second year at UCD (Ireland). I have found that everyone in the years below me and ahead of me at UCD is planning on going to the US on J-1 visas at the moment.
What would be wrong with just chilling out, doing some observerships and/or research (or maybe fellowship if your lucky) for your 2 years return of service back in Canada? I dont think having to spend a couple years in back Canada to do any of these things is that big of a deal (as long as you knew that you had a job back in the US when you were done so that you can make a great wage and pay off your loans). I think there is a much more important issue that Canadian Irish IMGs need to consider and dont seem to be .
DOES ANYONE KNOW OF ANY CANADIANS WHO HAVE ACTUALLY PROVEN THAT WE CAN COME BACK TO THE US AFTER OUR 2 YEARS RETURN OF SERVICE IN CANADA!!!!!! IF MOST OF US CANADIANS ARE GOING TO THE US ON J-1s AND SOME IF NOT MANY OF US DONT GET J-1 WAIVERS THAT MEANS MANY OF US WILL END UP COMING BACK TO CANADA FOR 2 YEARS. I THINK ITS GREAT THAT AS CANADIAN IMGs WE KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT THE USMLEs, J-1 VISAS, STATEMENTS OF NEED, J-1 WAIVERS, ELECTIVES, LETTERS OF REFERENCE, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY FOR THOSE OF US ENDING UP BACK IN CANADA FOR 2 YEARS IT WOULD ALL MEAN S*** IF WE COULDNT GET BACK INTO THE US FOR JOBS. Granted, a lot of us want to stay in Canada after our 2 years and take the Canadian exams and work as physicians but personally I never want to put myself in a situation where Im relying on Canada for a job as a foreign IMG even with a highly regarded US residency under my belt (see http://members.tripod.com/~donalda13/canimgexp.html). If I can get a residency as a GP in Canada after my degree great, but I have heard of Canadians not getting jobs back in Canada after their residency in the US and I dont think it would be responsible to rely on this as a sole option.
SO, DOES ANYONE KNOW IF CANADIANS IMGs ARE GETTING BACK TO THE US AFTER THEIR 2 YEARS IN CANADA? I mean if we work hard we can pass our Irish medical exams, do well on the USMLEs, get residencies on J-1 visas and complete our US residencies. I am completely confident that any hard working Canadian IMG from Ireland can do this. But I find it surprising that no one seems to be worrying/researching the situation that many of us will be in after being in Canada for 2 years and looking for a job back in the US!!!!!!!!! (I know it probably depends on what type of residency training we got in the US so lets assume we have done a primary care specialty since most of us probably will). If getting back to the US is hard/impossible/takes many years to accomplish then you can ace the USMLEs, do some great US electives and get the best US residency in the world but you will still be screwed if you end up stuck in Canada doing research or something other than practicing medicine (assuming your goal is to return to the US after your 2 years and bearing in mind that it is difficult to practice medicine back in Canada even after a US residency this is the general impression I have gotten anyway (see http://members.tripod.com/~donalda13/canimgexp.html) I am speaking for people who want to return to the US for financial/personal reasons instead of trying to work in Canada).
It is the only part of this whole process that no one seems to have answers on and NO ONE CAN ACTUALLY GIVE ANY EVIDENCE THAT CANADIAN IMGs ARE MAKING THIS FINAL TRANSITION AND ACCOMPLISHING THEIR ULTIMATE GOAL OF WORKING IN THE US. I have been trying to get answers on this for many weeks and tried contacting many upper years to get this question answered but no one seems to know. It seems absurd that we know so much and are concentrating so hard on the whole process up to this point, yet no one knows about the logistics/possibility/steps of going back to the US after the 2 years in Canada. Sorry, Ive really gone off on a tangent here. I mean, I know we would need to go back on an H1-B visa. To get this visa we would need a hospital to sponsor us. Have any Canadians achieved this? How hard is it? Do we all end up staying in Canada possibly working as physicians, doing research, or delivering pizza? Apparently there are a lot of unemployed doctors in Canada. Are any of these UCD grads with US residencies completed?
Its just really bothering me that none of us Canadian IMGs seem to be caring about this or trying to find out about this. It seems EXTREMELY important to me since it is the final piece of the puzzle and just as important as all the pieces preceding it. I also think its irresponsible to just ASSUME that we must be able to get back since we have a US residency. Wouldnt it be nice to hear about Canadian IMGs who are actually doing this? Some Canadian IMGs will tell me; its such a long ways away, dont worry about it, OR it all works out it the end concentrate on the other stuff first. But this doesnt make any sense to me and seems very foolish because before doing A and B and C, shouldnt we find out whether or not we will eventually be able to do D?
If there are any Canadians IMGs who are: (1) almost done their US residency, (2) have done their residency and are back in Canada or on J-1 waivers (3) have finished their 2 years return of service in Canada and are now practicing in the US (4) aware of any other IMGs in any of the preceding situations .. could you please shed some light and concrete evidence on this all important issue that no Canadian IMG that I know of really seems to be taking seriously.
It boggles my mind, I mean, this is the last all important step and it seems like no one cares about it or is bothering to research it. We know so much about all the other steps and are working so hard to achieve them yet it seems like there is nothing out there about this last one. It is driving me crazy!!!
Anyway, sorry once again guys for the long post but this issue is really bothering me and I think it REALLY needs to be addressed and researched by all us hard working, driven Canadian IMGs who are going down to the US on J-1s and eventually want to practice medicine in the US!!!!!!!!
Thanks
I am a Canadian in his second year at UCD (Ireland). I have found that everyone in the years below me and ahead of me at UCD is planning on going to the US on J-1 visas at the moment.
What would be wrong with just chilling out, doing some observerships and/or research (or maybe fellowship if your lucky) for your 2 years return of service back in Canada? I dont think having to spend a couple years in back Canada to do any of these things is that big of a deal (as long as you knew that you had a job back in the US when you were done so that you can make a great wage and pay off your loans). I think there is a much more important issue that Canadian Irish IMGs need to consider and dont seem to be .
DOES ANYONE KNOW OF ANY CANADIANS WHO HAVE ACTUALLY PROVEN THAT WE CAN COME BACK TO THE US AFTER OUR 2 YEARS RETURN OF SERVICE IN CANADA!!!!!! IF MOST OF US CANADIANS ARE GOING TO THE US ON J-1s AND SOME IF NOT MANY OF US DONT GET J-1 WAIVERS THAT MEANS MANY OF US WILL END UP COMING BACK TO CANADA FOR 2 YEARS. I THINK ITS GREAT THAT AS CANADIAN IMGs WE KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT THE USMLEs, J-1 VISAS, STATEMENTS OF NEED, J-1 WAIVERS, ELECTIVES, LETTERS OF REFERENCE, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY FOR THOSE OF US ENDING UP BACK IN CANADA FOR 2 YEARS IT WOULD ALL MEAN S*** IF WE COULDNT GET BACK INTO THE US FOR JOBS. Granted, a lot of us want to stay in Canada after our 2 years and take the Canadian exams and work as physicians but personally I never want to put myself in a situation where Im relying on Canada for a job as a foreign IMG even with a highly regarded US residency under my belt (see http://members.tripod.com/~donalda13/canimgexp.html). If I can get a residency as a GP in Canada after my degree great, but I have heard of Canadians not getting jobs back in Canada after their residency in the US and I dont think it would be responsible to rely on this as a sole option.
SO, DOES ANYONE KNOW IF CANADIANS IMGs ARE GETTING BACK TO THE US AFTER THEIR 2 YEARS IN CANADA? I mean if we work hard we can pass our Irish medical exams, do well on the USMLEs, get residencies on J-1 visas and complete our US residencies. I am completely confident that any hard working Canadian IMG from Ireland can do this. But I find it surprising that no one seems to be worrying/researching the situation that many of us will be in after being in Canada for 2 years and looking for a job back in the US!!!!!!!!! (I know it probably depends on what type of residency training we got in the US so lets assume we have done a primary care specialty since most of us probably will). If getting back to the US is hard/impossible/takes many years to accomplish then you can ace the USMLEs, do some great US electives and get the best US residency in the world but you will still be screwed if you end up stuck in Canada doing research or something other than practicing medicine (assuming your goal is to return to the US after your 2 years and bearing in mind that it is difficult to practice medicine back in Canada even after a US residency this is the general impression I have gotten anyway (see http://members.tripod.com/~donalda13/canimgexp.html) I am speaking for people who want to return to the US for financial/personal reasons instead of trying to work in Canada).
It is the only part of this whole process that no one seems to have answers on and NO ONE CAN ACTUALLY GIVE ANY EVIDENCE THAT CANADIAN IMGs ARE MAKING THIS FINAL TRANSITION AND ACCOMPLISHING THEIR ULTIMATE GOAL OF WORKING IN THE US. I have been trying to get answers on this for many weeks and tried contacting many upper years to get this question answered but no one seems to know. It seems absurd that we know so much and are concentrating so hard on the whole process up to this point, yet no one knows about the logistics/possibility/steps of going back to the US after the 2 years in Canada. Sorry, Ive really gone off on a tangent here. I mean, I know we would need to go back on an H1-B visa. To get this visa we would need a hospital to sponsor us. Have any Canadians achieved this? How hard is it? Do we all end up staying in Canada possibly working as physicians, doing research, or delivering pizza? Apparently there are a lot of unemployed doctors in Canada. Are any of these UCD grads with US residencies completed?
Its just really bothering me that none of us Canadian IMGs seem to be caring about this or trying to find out about this. It seems EXTREMELY important to me since it is the final piece of the puzzle and just as important as all the pieces preceding it. I also think its irresponsible to just ASSUME that we must be able to get back since we have a US residency. Wouldnt it be nice to hear about Canadian IMGs who are actually doing this? Some Canadian IMGs will tell me; its such a long ways away, dont worry about it, OR it all works out it the end concentrate on the other stuff first. But this doesnt make any sense to me and seems very foolish because before doing A and B and C, shouldnt we find out whether or not we will eventually be able to do D?
If there are any Canadians IMGs who are: (1) almost done their US residency, (2) have done their residency and are back in Canada or on J-1 waivers (3) have finished their 2 years return of service in Canada and are now practicing in the US (4) aware of any other IMGs in any of the preceding situations .. could you please shed some light and concrete evidence on this all important issue that no Canadian IMG that I know of really seems to be taking seriously.
It boggles my mind, I mean, this is the last all important step and it seems like no one cares about it or is bothering to research it. We know so much about all the other steps and are working so hard to achieve them yet it seems like there is nothing out there about this last one. It is driving me crazy!!!
Anyway, sorry once again guys for the long post but this issue is really bothering me and I think it REALLY needs to be addressed and researched by all us hard working, driven Canadian IMGs who are going down to the US on J-1s and eventually want to practice medicine in the US!!!!!!!!
Thanks
