How hard is it to get a GP residency in Canada as Canadian from an Irish med school?

[EdmontonOilers]

Hi

Im a Canadian who decided go to Ireland for medical school. Im in my second year here at UCD and Im in my early 20’s. Im starting to think ahead towards whether or not Im going to try to focus my energies on trying to get a GP residency in Canada or a GP or IM residency in the US. I want to decided between one country or the other now because it will influence where I will decide to do my electives during the summer (in Canada or the US) and which exams Im going to write. I don’t feel like I have time to prepare strong applications to both countries as I have only so many summers to do electives and so much time to study properly for exams. At this point I would much rather practice as a GP in Canada than practice in the US. One of the reasons for this is because of the visa issues I would have to deal with if I pursued a residency in the US on a J-1 (difficult and stressful process). However, Im worried that its much harder to obtain a GP residency in Canada than a GP or IM residency in the States. Upper years at my school are confident that a UCD graduate can get a GP residency in Canada (and many of them have been) but I get the general impression from researching the web that it isnt even worth an IMG’s time to apply for a residency in Canada. I am just hearing that it’s so hard and you’re chances arent that good. Is it really an unrealistic goal for a Candian IMG or did I just stumble on some old or biased sources? Any websites or sources I can read to get reliable info on this? If this is the case then I don’t want to waste my time and energy focusing on trying to get a residency in Canada but go for the US. So my question is, does anybody know if its much harder for a Canadian Irish grad to get a GP residency in Canada vs. a GP or IM residency in the US on a J-1 visa. Its really bothering me and I want to make a decision soon. Thanks so much guys.

I find this website very helpful. Does anyone know of any other good websites with medical forums that would be helpful for a Canadian studying at an Irish medical school.

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[justagp]

Hi EdmontonOilers:

If you're a Canadian IMG your odds are much much greater than if you're a "foreign" IMG. Especially if you're willing to do your training in a smaller program. I can't really speak to the med schools out west, but I do know that Dalhousie and Memorial take a fair number of IMGs and their preference is for Canadian born and raised but foreign trained over the rest of the field. I met a couple of Irish med school grads during my training from Dal and MUN. (I'm CCFP 2005)

Hope that helps!

 

[sxm2slough]

I'm a Caribbean student doing rotations in England. I PM'd a Canadian who went to Oz for med school. She landed an OBGYN in Manitoba and had a classmate interview for FP in Edmonton. She told me in her opinion that the chances of getting a spot are best if you can identify the programs that, year in and year out, have unfilled positions.

My quick research showed that those programs in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and northern Alberta fit that trend. It will be interesting to see how Ontario opening it's 2nd iteration to IMGs affects things there this year.