Full license in Canada without MCCQEs (a path of least resistance).

[schmutz]

For the poor souls of the generation to come after me I shall write this down.

If you are in residency in the US and are planning to come back to Canada, but have not taken the QE exams and, therefore, have no LMCC qualification, there is still a way to be licensed for independent practice in all (but one) provinces.

1. Take the RCPSC exam in your specialty the same year you take your board exams in the US.
2. Get a full license in your jurisdiction (state).
3. Apply for a full license in a province, which takes USMLEs in lieu of MCCQEs (at the time of writing these are Nova Scotia, British Columbia and New Brunswick; check each provincial college for the exact requirements as they change over the years)
4. Once you get a full license in BC or NS (or any other province), apply for an independent license/certificate in the province of choice (CPSO, CPSA, etc.) through the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).

You shall prevail!

Sincerely Yours,
Oberarzt Benedict von Schmutz

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Transition]

So I am in the process of doing this, but from Australia.

I am not writing my MCC exams and am about to get a full license via New Brunswick as I have CCFP (via reciprocal agreement recognizing my FRACGP in Australia). I will then use my full license in NB to get a full license in ON via the CFTA. NB is the only province offering full licenses to all candidates with CCFP without requiring LMCC.

 

[nslubana99]

Hi,

I am a general medicine physician in USA. I am planning to get a restricted license and settle in Canada. However, I have few questions if someone would be kind enough to answer

1. Would I do billing like a physician who has a full independent/unrestricted license?

2. If I have the authority to do the billing like a physician with unrestricted license, then is the reimbursement from the ministry of health (OHIP) same for a claim I send or less than a physician who have unrestricted license?

3. In net shell, I am asking would I generate the same amount of revenue as a physician with unrestricted license would generate working at my clinic and seeing the same number of patients per day as I do?

Thanks
Navdeep Singh

 

[rastko]

Does anybody have any experience in restricted licenses? I heard almost all jobs require full license, as nobody want a restricted license.

 

[Gos81238ia]

For the poor souls of the generation to come after me I shall write this down.

If you are in residency in the US and are planning to come back to Canada, but have not taken the QE exams and, therefore, have no LMCC qualification, there is still a way to be licensed for independent practice in all (but one) provinces.

1. Take the RCPSC exam in your specialty the same year you take your board exams in the US.
2. Get a full license in your jurisdiction (state).
3. Apply for a full license in a province, which takes USMLEs in lieu of MCCQEs (at the time of writing these are Nova Scotia, British Columbia and New Brunswick; check each provincial college for the exact requirements as they change over the years)
4. Once you get a full license in BC or NS (or any other province), apply for an independent license/certificate in the province of choice (CPSO, CPSA, etc.) through a Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).

You shall prevail!

Sincerely Yours,
Oberarzt Benedict von Schmutz

One caveat...recently with COVID, it can take up to a year to get your license in BC this way!

 

[Gos81238ia]

Hi,

I am a general medicine physician in USA. I am planning to get a restricted license and settle in Canada. However, I have few questions if someone would be kind enough to answer

1. Would I do billing like a physician who has a full independent/unrestricted license?

2. If I have the authority to do the billing like a physician with unrestricted license, then is the reimbursement from the ministry of health (OHIP) same for a claim I send or less than a physician who have unrestricted license?

3. In net shell, I am asking would I generate the same amount of revenue as a physician with unrestricted license would generate working at my clinic and seeing the same number of patients per day as I do?

Thanks
Navdeep Singh

In general you would bill the same way as the schedule of benefits does not differentiate between who is billing the codes (at least in Ontario).

Some nuances here; It depends what your restricted license restricts you to. For example, for a family doctor in Ontario on a license requiring supervision, they cannot join a FHO and build a rostered practice. This means they cannot gain income from having a stable roster of patients. However, if that doctor saw a patient on a walk-in basis, they would bill the same code as any other doctor doing that visit. The income difference would come down to the income difference between what you can earn billing for sole encounters vs. what you can earn by managing a roster of patients in a FHO. A restricted license also typically restricts you to one location/type of work. Again using FM as an example - in Ontario many family doctors supplement their outpatient clinic work with things like nursing home, palliative care in the home, FM-OB, rounding on their own inpatients, surgical assist etc. Some of these can be lucrative and are a nice way to boost income without having to take on a giant outpatient practice. A restricted license in Ontario for a family doctor means they would only be able to choose one setting and they need a supervisor in that setting.

 

[catchetat]

Excellent post that summarises key points thank you.

Was wondering which Royal College exam to do: General Internal Medicine or Internal Medicine? I am doing a subspecialty already but thought that having done a GIM or IM may give me an extra edge....

what's the difference between the two?

 

[deleted999033]

Excellent post that summarises key points thank you.

Was wondering which Royal College exam to do: General Internal Medicine or Internal Medicine? I am doing a subspecialty already but thought that having done a GIM or IM may give me an extra edge....

what's the difference between the two?

Which subspeciality are you doing?

 

[catchetat]

Which subspeciality are you doing?

Diabetes and Endocrinology

 

[Transition]

Just an update.

It worked!

So to reiterate:

1. Get limited registration in a provicne
2. Get ccfp
3. Use ccfp to get independent license in nb
4. Use independent license in nb to get a license anywhere else under the Canadian free trade agreement.

No exams written and I am a fully licensed doctor and family physician in Canada and Australia. Wahoo!

 

[DoctorORG]

Hi everyone,

So I graduated from FM in USA and now have my full license in BC without QE1 and QE2 and hold my CCFP.
Called CPSO and was told that I am not eligible for a full license in Ontario but I would be eligible for a restricted license only.
Does anyone have a similar experience?

 

[DoctorORG]

Hi everyone,

So I graduated from FM in USA and now have my full license in BC without QE1 and QE2 and hold my CCFP.
Called CPSO and was told that I am not eligible for a full license in Ontario but I would be eligible for a restricted license only.
Does anyone have a similar experience?

 

[rastko]

Just an update.

It worked!

So to reiterate:

1. Get limited registration in a provicne
2. Get ccfp
3. Use ccfp to get independent license in nb
4. Use independent license in nb to get a license anywhere else under the Canadian free trade agreement.

No exams written and I am a fully licensed doctor and family physician in Canada and Australia. Wahoo!

Did you have to be physically present in CA for this?

 

[Transition]

Hi everyone,

So I graduated from FM in USA and now have my full license in BC without QE1 and QE2 and hold my CCFP.
Called CPSO and was told that I am not eligible for a full license in Ontario but I would be eligible for a restricted license only.
Does anyone have a similar experience?

They are lying. The cpso did this with me too. Just quote the cfta and they will send you an application. For some reason, the staff in the cpso take it personally that people are using the cfta to get licenses in Ontario. It’s really strange.

 

[Transition]

Did you have to be physically present in CA for this?

Nope. Haven’t been home in Ontario in nearly 3 years now.

 

[shds_]

For the poor souls of the generation to come after me I shall write this down.

If you are in residency in the US and are planning to come back to Canada, but have not taken the QE exams and, therefore, have no LMCC qualification, there is still a way to be licensed for independent practice in all (but one) provinces.

1. Take the RCPSC exam in your specialty the same year you take your board exams in the US.
2. Get a full license in your jurisdiction (state).
3. Apply for a full license in a province, which takes USMLEs in lieu of MCCQEs (at the time of writing these are Nova Scotia, British Columbia and New Brunswick; check each provincial college for the exact requirements as they change over the years)
4. Once you get a full license in BC or NS (or any other province), apply for an independent license/certificate in the province of choice (CPSO, CPSA, etc.) through a Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA).

You shall prevail!

Sincerely Yours,
Oberarzt Benedict von Schmutz

If somebody is interested in studying for the Royal college exam (anesthesia), please let me know! I’m looking for a study partner! Simone. [email protected]

 

[TimmyH]

How many years of residency do you need if you are internal medicine board certified in USA?
I am interested in applying for British Columbia license. I am Canadian

 

[deleted999033]

Just 3 years is fine. Did you already secure job from healthmatchBC?

 

[TimmyH]

Just 3 years is fine. Did you already secure job from healthmatchBC?

No not yet.

I thought u needed 4 years of internal medicine residency in order to start the process.
I called royal college of British Columbia as well last year and they told me I needed 4 years of residency. So I stopped looking cuz I have only done 3 years of IM and now just practicing a board certified IM physician in USA.

 

[deleted999033]

No not yet.

I thought u needed 4 years of internal medicine residency in order to start the process.
I called royal college of British Columbia as well last year and they told me I needed 4 years of residency. So I stopped looking cuz I have only done 3 years of IM and now just practicing a board certified IM physician in USA.

oh right

I use my first year

No not yet.

I thought u needed 4 years of internal medicine residency in order to start the process.
I called royal college of British Columbia as well last year and they told me I needed 4 years of residency. So I stopped looking cuz I have only done 3 years of IM and now just practicing a board certified IM physician in USA.

Oh right I forgot I use my first year of CC fellowship as my forth year IM.

 

[lacktoastintolerant]

Oh right I forgot I use my first year of CC fellowship as my forth year IM.

i'm planning on doing IM + cards. can i skip my chief year and just use my cards fellowship year 1? will there be any restrictions due to "using up" a year from the fellowship in terms of implications for licensing in cards?

 

[geniusindisguise]

Was wondering if anyone can comment on whether IM subspecialists need to take both Royal College boards for IM and the subspecialty for licensure and eligibility to work in said subspecialty? Secondly, are there any barriers to licensure for fellowships that are combined in US but not in Canada such as hem/onc and pulm/crit?

 

[Virk007]

Just an update.

It worked!

So to reiterate:

1. Get limited registration in a provicne
2. Get ccfp
3. Use ccfp to get independent license in nb
4. Use independent license in nb to get a license anywhere else under the Canadian free trade agreement.

No exams written and I am a fully licensed doctor and family physician in Canada and Australia. Wahoo!

What’s the timeline to get license in NB followed by unrestricted license in Ontario? Currently working in US as FM. Debating to write mccqe1 to get licensed back home in Ontario but if your way requires no further testing, that would be awesome. Do we need a residential address in NB to apply there?

 

[Virk007]

Anyone?

 

[schmutz]

What’s the timeline to get license in NB followed by unrestricted license in Ontario? Currently working in US as FM. Debating to write mccqe1 to get licensed back home in Ontario but if your way requires no further testing, that would be awesome. Do we need a residential address in NB to apply there?

Speaking from experience with other provinces: once all paperwork is submitted, on the order of 1 month. No local address is necessary as a rule.

 

[Virk007]

Speaking from experience with other provinces: once all paperwork is submitted, on the order of 1 month. No local address is necessary as a rule.

Thanks for the reply. What province did you end up getting a license from? My end goal is a full unrestricted license in Ontario.

 

[Virk007]

Just an update.

It worked!

So to reiterate:

1. Get limited registration in a provicne
2. Get ccfp
3. Use ccfp to get independent license in nb
4. Use independent license in nb to get a license anywhere else under the Canadian free trade agreement.

No exams written and I am a fully licensed doctor and family physician in Canada and Australia. Wahoo!

Not sure if this is a recent change made to licensure in New Brunswick but I was told by their college, you need a position prior to being licensed. So you can not just get a license in NB, sitting somewhere else.

 

[Transition]

Not sure if this is a recent change made to licensure in New Brunswick but I was told by their college, you need a position prior to being licensed. So you can not just get a license in NB, sitting somewhere else.

If you hold CCFP, NB will give you full registration regardless of your current job/residency status.

This has been a blanket policy in CPSNB for at least 2+ years and I doubt it has changed. I could of course be wrong and ymmv.

 

[schmutz]

Thanks for the reply. What province did you end up getting a license from? My end goal is a full unrestricted license in Ontario.

I got NS and then got ON.

 

[Virk007]

I got NS and then got ON.

Do you need to write the RCPSC, if you are ABFM board certified in the US for people without QE1?

 

[crossled]

Just an update.

It worked!

So to reiterate:

1. Get limited registration in a provicne
2. Get ccfp
3. Use ccfp to get independent license in nb
4. Use independent license in nb to get a license anywhere else under the Canadian free trade agreement.

No exams written and I am a fully licensed doctor and family physician in Canada and Australia. Wahoo!

How do you do numbers one and two?
Once I am board certified in USA will they accept the american boards exam?

 

[Highlander455]

Each province will be different, but as an example, look at CPSO's Pathways A and C:

CPSO - Alternative Pathways to Registration for Physicians Trained in the United States

www.cpso.on.ca

 

[DrSleepytime0]

How do you do numbers one and two?
Once I am board certified in USA will they accept the american boards exam?

Hey the rules recently changed, like April 2023 - you should take a look at the CPSO website.