Research in Canada/US

[Medstart108]

I am a first year medical student in the UK who entered straight from high school. I have learned a lot about the difficulty of matching into a residency program back in NA. I am a Canadian IMG and am hoping to match back to either Canada or the U.S (no particular preference of one country over another). I know that for the first few years of the program, I will not be able to do any clinical electives in NA, but I have summers off that I am hoping to use to help improve my application and if possible reduce the burden of my tuition.

I am wondering, is doing research in Canada or the U.S preferable to doing research in the UK (assuming all other factors are the same)? Will it be useful in making connections or are these connections just too early on and not very useful? Are there other uses of my time that may also be important to improving my application? In essence, i am trying to mold myself into a competitive applicant for residency in 5 years time. Barring academics and test scores, what can I do to improve my profile?

Also do program directors in both Canada and the U.S view experience (both research and clinical elective) similarly to experience in their own country? Meaning if you applied to the U.S and had Canadian research or electives, would it be considered relatively comparable? and vice versa

Advice and Information is very much appreciated.

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[NotAProgDirector]

I am a first year medical student in the UK who entered straight from high school. I have learned a lot about the difficulty of matching into a residency program back in NA. I am a Canadian IMG and am hoping to match back to either Canada or the U.S (no particular preference of one country over another). I know that for the first few years of the program, I will not be able to do any clinical electives in NA, but I have summers off that I am hoping to use to help improve my application and if possible reduce the burden of my tuition.

I am wondering, is doing research in Canada or the U.S preferable to doing research in the UK (assuming all other factors are the same)? Will it be useful in making connections or are these connections just too early on and not very useful? Are there other uses of my time that may also be important to improving my application? In essence, i am trying to mold myself into a competitive applicant for residency in 5 years time. Barring academics and test scores, what can I do to improve my profile?

Also do program directors in both Canada and the U.S view experience (both research and clinical elective) similarly to experience in their own country? Meaning if you applied to the U.S and had Canadian research or electives, would it be considered relatively comparable? and vice versa

Advice and Information is very much appreciated.

For clinical work, the answer is no. Clinical experience in the UK is not seen as exactly equivalent to that in the US or Canada (by most PD's, I would expect). This is not to say that the care supplied in the UK is bad, but simply that our systems are different and it's hard to compare. If you're trying to match in Canada, Canadian experience is critical (and even with that, is very difficult).

Research is harder to say. Much depends on what you get done, and whom you work with. It's probably a bit safer to work here in the US/Canada, with someone who is known.