US Grad wanting to take Canadian boards

[greenpink]

Hello --
Quick question: I'm a Canadian citizen whose gone to med school in the US and is planning on doing a US residency (in my 4th year of med school now). Am wanting to go back home to Canada and practice after staying the states a while to pay off my loans, etc. So my question is -- am I eligble to take the Canadian 'boards'? Anyone know when and how this works? A good website you could point me to?
Sorry for the trouble and thanks for the help.

-pink.

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[trustwomen]

Hello --
Quick question: I'm a Canadian citizen whose gone to med school in the US and is planning on doing a US residency (in my 4th year of med school now). Am wanting to go back home to Canada and practice after staying the states a while to pay off my loans, etc. So my question is -- am I eligble to take the Canadian 'boards'? Anyone know when and how this works? A good website you could point me to?
Sorry for the trouble and thanks for the help.

-pink.

'Fraid I don't have any info for you, but I wanted to say - welcome home!!! It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside when we gain doctors. 🙂

 

[tussy]

Depends on what specialty (?Family practice vs. specialty). For specialties the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada will be the body that administers exams. For family medicine is the Canadian College Family Physicians. A google search should give you the websites. There is also the Medical Council of Canada which administers the LMCC (also known as MCCQE/MCCEE) exams.

 

[pianist]

as a LCME school graduate you can take MCCQE (medical council of canada qualifying exam) part 1 at the end of medical school, and then MCCQE part 2 after internship. You do not need to take MCCEE (MCC evaluating exam) ,that is for IMGs. You can then become a licentiate of the medical council of canada. After residency is completed, you can apply for a provincial license, and certification from the royal college. Some specialities will be more tricky than others.

for MCCQE1, go to the MCC website, download the application, send it in. that's it. There are specific dates that the exam is held usually may-june , and you have to basically take it at a canadian medical school. I graduated from the US and I took MCCQE 1 at UWO. (be sure to study, it's a difficult exam)

I am not sure exactly, but it seems that alternatively in some provinces you might not have to take the MCCQE, and instead have the STEP series as equivalent but I am not certain. Best bet is to just take the canadian exams.

 

[bulgethetwine]

Hello --
Quick question: I'm a Canadian citizen whose gone to med school in the US and is planning on doing a US residency (in my 4th year of med school now). Am wanting to go back home to Canada and practice after staying the states a while to pay off my loans, etc. So my question is -- am I eligble to take the Canadian 'boards'? Anyone know when and how this works? A good website you could point me to?
Sorry for the trouble and thanks for the help.

-pink.

Note that with the currency swing, there is little to no difference any longer in residency salaries... not that you're going to pay off your loans during residency anyway.

Also, many specialties -- again, the currency swing -- are just as lucrative in Canada as the U.S. particularly primary care (Fam med, gen peds, gen internal, EM, gen surg). So if your reason to stay in the U.S. is to "pay off some loans" depending on your specialty, it may take longer than you're thinking, if there is any advantage at all.

My advice would be to go to Canada for residency, and then, if you still feel a financial strain, go as a board certified specialist to the U.S. for a short stint for some bank.

Good luck.