US residency with Canadian MD (Dual Canadian-US citizen)

[Endoxifen]

Hi Everyone,

I'm a dual Canadian-US citizen interested in applying to a Canadian medical school this coming cycle. At this stage, I'm unsure whether I would like to do residency in Canada or the US, and I was hoping someone could explain how the match works for students applying to both locations. Are Canadian students significantly disadvantaged with finding residency placements in the US? Should I do a competitive residency in Canada, would it be well received at large academic medical centers in the US? I'm currently completing my PhD abroad and plan to be a physician-scientist, so I'm not sure how exactly residency will play into academic appointments.

Thank you very much for your help!

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[Endoxifen]

Bump

 

[gyngyn]

Very few people will have relevant experience with this situation.
In my experience (admittedly, limited), Canadian students without visa issues (e.g. dual citizens like yourself) have no problems with a US Match.
As long as you can get a license in the US, a Canadian residency should not be an impediment in most large academic institutions.

 

[stickgirl390]

My n=1 experience; I rotated with a PGY1 internal med resident at a US academic program who was a Canadian citizen, went to med school in the Caribbean, and matched in the US. She said she applied to over 130 residencies, got 15 interviews and matched at her 13th rank.

Idk if that is helpful information for you, but that’s what I’ve got. Best of luck!

 

[Endoxifen]

Very few people will have relevant experience with this situation.
In my experience (admittedly, limited), Canadian students without visa issues (e.g. dual citizens like yourself) have no problems with a US Match.
As long as you can get a license in the US, a Canadian residency should not be an impediment in most large academic institutions.

Thanks very much for the response. I’m unsurprised that there aren’t a whole lot of people with experience in this very niche situation, so I appreciate you providing what information you have.

It’s good to hear that there aren’t any obvious problems with returning to the US. I’ve reached out to McGill about this and will be sure to post their advice here so there’s a record for any future applicants in this situation.

Though this may be a bit presumptuous, I was hoping to get your thoughts on the choice between a top 10 medical school in the US with partial NIH funding (~$20K each for tuition and stipend per year) and McGill with Quebec resident tuition (~$7000/year). I’m leaning far more towards McGill since the cost is comparatively zero while still being a top tier school. However, the US schools would spare me any added complications should I decide to return to the states. I would also get a stipend which would help with daily living costs (though I would obviously end up with far more debt). If you were in this situation, what would you do?

Thank you again for the advice! I really appreciate it.

 

[Endoxifen]

My n=1 experience; I rotated with a PGY1 internal med resident at a US academic program who was a Canadian citizen, went to med school in the Caribbean, and matched in the US. She said she applied to over 130 residencies, got 15 interviews and matched at her 13th rank.

Idk if that is helpful information for you, but that’s what I’ve got. Best of luck!

I’m unfamiliar with typical match results, but that sounds quite a lot of applications with few results. I’m glad it worked out for her though! Hopefully the it was due to her being a non-US citizen with a Caribbean MD (though I also don’t really know how those are perceived by residencies). I will keep it in mind though moving forward. Thanks very much for letting me know!

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks very much for the response. I’m unsurprised that there aren’t a whole lot of people with experience in this very niche situation, so I appreciate you providing what information you have.

It’s good to hear that there aren’t any obvious problems with returning to the US. I’ve reached out to McGill about this and will be sure to post their advice here so there’s a record for any future applicants in this situation.

Though this may be a bit presumptuous, I was hoping to get your thoughts on the choice between a top 10 medical school in the US with partial NIH funding (~$20K each for tuition and stipend per year) and McGill with Quebec resident tuition (~$7000/year). I’m leaning far more towards McGill since the cost is comparatively zero while still being a top tier school. However, the US schools would spare me any added complications should I decide to return to the states. I would also get a stipend which would help with daily living costs (though I would obviously end up with far more debt). If you were in this situation, what would you do?

Thank you again for the advice! I really appreciate it.

Even Americans (at least in academics!) know that McGill is an amazing school. I doubt that an MD from there (as a US citizen) could be anything but a positive for most PD's.

 

[Endoxifen]

Even Americans (at least in academics!) know that McGill is an amazing school. I doubt that an MD from there (as a US citizen) could be anything but a positive for most PD's.

That’s great to hear! It was somewhat of a shock to my American family that I wanted to do this, so it’s relieving to hear that there’s no real risk. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Banco]

Even Americans (at least in academics!) know that McGill is an amazing school. I doubt that an MD from there (as a US citizen) could be anything but a positive for most PD's.

Is this really true though? I have a feeling that a foreign medical school still gets considered as a tier below when it comes to the residency process - a lot of the time it is a game of filters. Otherwise those who go to study at other impressive schools in Europe such as Royal College/Oxford/Heidelberg etc. wouldn't have issues matching back in the USA, but I know multiple US citizens who ultimately ended up in prelim spots coming from such schools. Maybe being in Canada provides some leeway? This is obviously just anecdotal from my end and it's hard to parse data on what is and isn't an impressive foreign medical school.

Either way, if the goal is to do residency in the USA, I would aim for a US medical school to be as risk averse as possible. However this is just generic advice from my end. OP you seem you're unsure about where exactly you want to end up (and that's totally fine). You may want to reach out to people at your school in Canada who have gone through something similar to get some advice on the matter. You're also going MD/PhD which is already a different subset of applicant (in a positive way).

 

[gyngyn]

Is this really true though?

They would be a US citizen-graduate of Canada's most prestigious medical school. PD's at the types of residency OP is shooting for would be happy to have someone with this pedigree.

 

[Endoxifen]

They would be a US citizen graduate of Canada's most prestigious medical school. PD's at the types of residency OP is shooting for would be happy to have someone with this pedigree.

Concerning Banco’s question about Canadian-specific exemptions, I’d heard that US med graduates were always considered first during the match. I’m currently at Cambridge Uni and apart from a commitment for a number of years working the the NHS, I was advised against remaining here for med school because there were a vanishingly small number of international residency spots. Is Canada exempt from this or would I be because of my citizenship?

This question is largely academic since I fully intend to return to North America for family reasons. I’m curious though, should you know.

 

[gyngyn]

Concerning Banco’s question about Canadian-specific exemptions, I’d heard that US med graduates were always considered first during the match. I’m currently at Cambridge Uni and apart from a commitment for a number of years working the the NHS, I was advised against remaining here for med school because there were a vanishingly small number of international residency spots. Is Canada exempt for this or would I be because of my citizenship?

This question is largely academic since I fully intend to return to North America for family reasons. I’m curious though, should you know.

It is a factor of two things, your US citizenship and the fact that McGill is a known quantity compared to schools (however famous) outside the US/Canada bubble.