US Immigration, a black hole?

[White-Tiger]

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I am a canadian citizen, currently starting undergrad and hope to go to medical school in 3 years from now. My ultimate goal is to practice in the US (pref. in some of the competitive fields like derm or radio) once I am done with my medical training. However, I am starting to find the US immigration issues rather grim...here's what I mean:

Case 1 :
Graduated from Canadian Med School / Residency in Canada:
This is the biggest game of dice you'll ever play in your life, basically if you plan on working in the USA after a Canadian residency the US needs to consider the canadian residency equal to those offered in the US. Problem with that is that the legislation is always changing, and considering that most "speciality" trainings are 5-6 years, the law could always change and bar you from crossing the border.

Case 2:
Graduated from Canadian Med School / US Residency:
You must waste a year in limbo due to visa issues. Not only that but in competitive residencies PDs are more likely to give the spot to an american med graduate than a canadian one. And to top it all off, you need to find a place that will sponsor you got a H1B visa, so basically if you wish to enter a competitive residency, you pretty much outta luck.

Case 3:
Graduated from US Med School / US residency :
You don't waste a year since you can extent your student visa for the first year of residency but you still need to find a place that'll sponsor you for a H1B visa, which is gonna be hard in the competitive residencies (how hard? impossible?). So you're pretty much out of luck in that field too.


Surely there must be another way,
Is it really this grim?

Someone, please, give me hope.

 

[WaZoBia]

ok i could be wrong here but i'll give it a whirl. right now you wanna go into derma or rads but that could change by the time you're done with medical school. you may find out that you like something else.

with regards to
case 1 "graduated from a canadian med school/ residency in canada:
i think the US will always have that special relationship with canada, plus canadian residency training can either be the same duration or longer than
that of the US, i've never heard of a residency program that has a shorter duration in canada. so i don't think there's gonna be any problem with accreditation.

case 2" graduated from canadian med school/ US reseidency
you can get a J1 visa, i know a lotta imgs actually get the J1 visa, if you plan things well you may not have to spend that "year out in limbo".

case 3 "graduated from US med school/ US residency
same problem you brought up, get a J1 visa, most imgs get em, unless it's different for canucks i think you should be ok.

 

[White-Tiger]

Regarding the J1 visa, don't you need to return to canada for atleast 2 years after completion of your residency with this visa?

And also, I'm not completely sure on this because I can't find a comprehensible list of "US. Accepted Canadian Residencies" but I know that canadian neurosurgeons can't cross over anymore, and I think it's the same for ophtalmologists...and a few more..

 

[Howard Roark]

I am a canadian citizen, currently starting undergrad and hope to go to medical school in 3 years from now. My ultimate goal is to practice in the US (pref. in some of the competitive fields like derm or radio) once I am done with my medical training. However, I am starting to find the US immigration issues rather grim...here's what I mean:

Case 1 :
Graduated from Canadian Med School / Residency in Canada:
This is the biggest game of dice you'll ever play in your life, basically if you plan on working in the USA after a Canadian residency the US needs to consider the canadian residency equal to those offered in the US. Problem with that is that the legislation is always changing, and considering that most "speciality" trainings are 5-6 years, the law could always change and bar you from crossing the border.

Case 2:
Graduated from Canadian Med School / US Residency:
You must waste a year in limbo due to visa issues. Not only that but in competitive residencies PDs are more likely to give the spot to an american med graduate than a canadian one. And to top it all off, you need to find a place that will sponsor you got a H1B visa, so basically if you wish to enter a competitive residency, you pretty much outta luck.

Case 3:
Graduated from US Med School / US residency :
You don't waste a year since you can extent your student visa for the first year of residency but you still need to find a place that'll sponsor you for a H1B visa, which is gonna be hard in the competitive residencies (how hard? impossible?). So you're pretty much out of luck in that field too.


Surely there must be another way,
Is it really this grim?

Someone, please, give me hope.

im just curious. what draws you to practice in the USA?

good luck


.

 

[White-Tiger]

What draws me to the US?

I think overall the healthcare system is better suited to my personal views.
As it stands right now, where I live, if you get a cold there's no way to avoid the damned 8 hour lineups at the emergency clinics/hospitals...for a common cold. Let's not even mention the 6-12-18months line up for little surgeries, typically performed in under 3 weeks in the USA...

And, I have an MD in the family who moved south and his comments on the differences alone would push me to move south..

Let's not even mention the better climate, geographical location (sea/ocean).

 

[toothcaries]

What draws me to the US?

I think overall the healthcare system is better suited to my personal views.
As it stands right now, where I live, if you get a cold there's no way to avoid the damned 8 hour lineups at the emergency clinics/hospitals...for a common cold. Let's not even mention the 6-12-18months line up for little surgeries, typically performed in under 3 weeks in the USA...

And, I have an MD in the family who moved south and his comments on the differences alone would push me to move south..

Let's not even mention the better climate, geographical location (sea/ocean).

move to vancouver like everyone else..

 

[LADoc00]

White Tiger,

It will not help your cause much that Canada has become the bastion of Anti-Americanism that it is today. Comments from your leading MPs like "Those greedy Americans" or "American Imperialists should die" or better yet comparing us to Nazis will make sure when you do get to the US you will likely end up in a competitive field like derm and radiology (..holds back the laugh...) but your position will be staff at a little clinic in Cuba, called Camp Xray.

 

[El Duderino]

Not to say I can't relate to your problems with non-US healthcare systems, I do think you'd be hard pressed to find an ER in the US where you wouldn't have to wait for hours if you were there for the sniffles. And I really don't have a problem with that. Now, having to wait for six months to get an MRI is a whole nother matter. That wouldn't happen in the US. (Where, OTOH, your HMO/insurance company/whatever could deny you the MRI altogether. It's a trade-off. 🙂)

Actually, I have yet to meet a doctor - anywhere - who doesn't think their respective healthcare system is falling apart. I don't know if that's scary or reassuring... 🙂

 

[bobby6]

Derm or Rads? Those are highly competitive fields even for American graduates. You're best shot is to graduate from an US medical school to even have a chance. IMGs do match in those fields but most have worked in the US at a particular residency program doing research for a number of years.

 

[White-Tiger]

Derm or Rads? Those are highly competitive fields even for American graduates. You're best shot is to graduate from an US medical school to even have a chance. IMGs do match in those fields but most have worked in the US at a particular residency program doing research for a number of years.

So getting an H1B in these fields is a pipedream, huh?