US or Canada Med School ?

[kornphan]

If somone was accepted to a US and Canadian Med school, which one should he/she attend ?. I know both schools will be excellent and it's much cheaper to go to Canadian Med school, but if you wanted to study in Canada and come back and practice in US, wouldn't you have more problems .. like taking USMLE's, residency, etc ?.. Whould it be better just to pay more now and go to US med school instead of having hassle down the road ? .... Thanks for your opnion.

korn

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[brandonite]

If you want to practice in the US, you're probably better off going to a US school. Do a search - we've talked a bit before on this board about visa problems. If you do your degree in the US, you really won't have any problems practising in the US.

On the other hand, if you want to work in Canada, you're probably better off doing your med degree in Canada.

It is possible to do your MD in Canada, and do your residency in the US (with some minor visa issues), but it's not possible (according to our best wisdom) to do your MD in the US, and your residency in Canada. Not that I would know why anybody wants to do that...

But, you have to be sure that you are willing to go $250,00 CDN into debt for an MD at a top US school. It's a lot of money, and you may decide it's worth your while to just do your MD in Canada, and worry about coming down to the US after residency.

There are a bunch of us Canadians applying down to the US. Moo, any advice?

 

[kornphan]

Thank You so much. I am in the US (legally) and a Canadian Citizen, so 'visa' problems is not a concern, since I am in the US, would you recommended just going to Med school here ?.. so I dont have to worry about taking the smelleys once I come back from Canada ?.. Thanks again

korn

 

[none]

It would depend on the schools involved wouldn't it?

 

[jimjones]

Don't be daft, of course go with the Canadian school. Its almost FREE, very quality, AND LCME ACCREDITED, so there is no problem getting a competetive residency.

 

[jimjones]

Actually I change my mind, go with the US school.

 

[Thewonderer]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by kornphan:
•Thank You so much. I am in the US (legally) and a Canadian Citizen, so 'visa' problems is not a concern, since I am in the US, would you recommended just going to Med school here ?.. so I dont have to worry about taking the smelleys once I come back from Canada ?.. Thanks again

korn•••••What do you mean by "legal"? if you are a student on F1 visa, you are legal. if you have a green card, you are also legal. But the implication for work later is totally different for these two people.

If you have green card, you are GOLDEN.....

If it is not a top 10 school in the US, then stay in Canada (assume you have American green card + Canadian citizenship). If it is a top 10 school in the US, then consider it carefully (you might wind up in the US or Canada....depending on your preference).

 

[brandonite]

Thanks, Thewonderer. You obviously know more far more about visas and the technical difficulties about going to school in the US.

I applied to six schools in the US, with some success so far (not a lot, mind you). I'm still leaning towards staying in Canada, if only because of the incredible difference in cost. Think about things very carefully...

 

[moo]

Well, you have to really plan ahead in your case... I think if you want to end up in the US it's worth it to spend the money to go to a good US school, but if you want to practice in Canada, then there is no reason for you to go to the US. For me, I want to practice in the US eventually, so I applied to mostly US schools... Yes the debt will be huge, but you WILL be a doctor and you WILL be able to pay them off with what you will be making.

 

[Thewonderer]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by moo:
•Well, you have to really plan ahead in your case... I think if you want to end up in the US it's worth it to spend the money to go to a good US school, but if you want to practice in Canada, then there is no reason for you to go to the US. For me, I want to practice in the US eventually, so I applied to mostly US schools... Yes the debt will be huge, but you WILL be a doctor and you WILL be able to pay them off with what you will be making.•••••I would make my decision in a complicated manner than what moo's opinion is. I don't think that it is as straightforward as if you want to practice in the US, therefore go to an US school.

The original poster has Canadian citizen and American green card. Therefore, he can take advantage of the Canada's cheap med school education and still get post-graduate training in the US no problem (the whole working visa is irrelevant for him or her!). And schools in Canada do have good reputation. Therefore, why spend more money even going to SUNY or Georgetwon if you can go to U of Ottawa (just as an example) and get the same residency spot afterward?

 

[medical22]

Is it true that students in the US applying to Canadian medical schools after having a Bachelor's degree are not required to take the MCATs?

 

[brandonite]

There is one school in Canada that doesn't require MCATs - the University of Ottawa. At every other school, they're required.

Generally, though, GPA is far more important than MCAT scores in Canada. For example, you need at least a 3.80 to be competitive at the University of Toronto (generally thought of as the top school in Canada), and the average is 3.87. And that's keeping in mind that an 'A' counts as a 3.9, not a 4.0 in Toronto.

So, you're almost always required to take them, but their usage varies widely from school to school.

Oh, and the only school that takes any substantial number of American applicants is McGill, which actually takes far more Americans than they do Canadians from outside the province of Quebec... Go figure.

 

[VC15]

In addition to Ottawa, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario also doesn't require the MCAT. For the other schools (which all consider your MCAT scores), MCAT requirements vary. At a place like U of T, they focus mostly on GPA, and only care that you got 8's in every section plus N in writing. But at Queen's, you must get a 30 in total and 10 in verbal, otherwise you don't make their cutoffs. Their GPA requirements aren't as strict, slightly under 3.6...

 

[moo]

Don't forget about the French schools! they don't require the MCAT either.

 

[brandonite]

Whoops. Forgot about Macmaster. They'd never ever let me in, so I try to ignore them... And, really, who wants to live in Hamilton?? I hear you get used to the odor, but I'm not too sure... :wink:

And the French schools don't really count, moo... It's easy to see why they don't use the MCAT - all the classes are taught in French, and the MCAT is in English... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

 

[kornphan]

Thank You all so much for all the good info. I am alrready in the US (since my Dad was transferred here), and I just finished my undergrad here, so my point was should I just stay here with my family in US and go to med school here or go to Canada ?. Some folks tell me that it's hard to get back here from Canada and practice (have to take all the USMLE's) ... also a concern about getting a good match. Any opnions ?.

Thanks
korn

 

[Thewonderer]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by kornphan:
•Thank You all so much for all the good info. I am alrready in the US (since my Dad was transferred here), and I just finished my undergrad here, so my point was should I just stay here with my family in US and go to med school here or go to Canada ?. Some folks tell me that it's hard to get back here from Canada and practice (have to take all the USMLE's) ... also a concern about getting a good match. Any opnions ?.

Thanks
korn•••••I don't quite understand your question. Canadian med grads have to take the same tests (USMLE step 1 and step 2) as US med grads before being allowed to match. there is no extra testing! the only inconvenience is that Canadian med schools will not work around your schedule so you can take USMLE easily. There is also the Canadian board but if you don't want to practice in Canada, I am not sure if you need to bother with that.

It all comes down to two things....
1) $$$$
2) Reputation

It is your pick! It does depend on what med school in the US you are comparing Ottawa to. Nobody, and I repeat, nobody can tell you that Ottawa is more reputable than,say, Georgetown, but maybe slightly less than Baylor but on the same footing as Mount Sinai or something like that. Because 1) ranking is overblown (outside of Yale, Harvard, Columbia, etc., I would go with Ottawa comfortably. I even know two McGill students who turned down Columbia and Yale a couple years ago). 2) there is no such ranking out there. It is very subjective and depends on the residency directors (some might feel Canadian grads with better clinical training due to hospital staff shortage at their med schools are God-sent while others just don't know them too well and are uncomfortable).

You are not going to find the one answer to all, here on this board. I would suggest you talk to Ottawa administrators and talk to the 20ish Americans who go to McGill every year and ask them why they left the US for med school but do for every intent to go back to the US afterwards. It is not hard to find those American students' contact info at Mcgill.