Internal Medicine in Canada

[lillilanda]

Would really appreciate info/advice - I’m a Canadian citizen, lived in US most of my life. I’m an internist, I do outpatient only, and see mostly fairly complex patients. We are considering the possibility of moving to Ontario to be closer to family. Realistically what are my options? Is it even possible to have this type of practice in Canada? Currently I see about 65 patients a week, I have heard Canadian docs usually have to see way more than that to stay afloat? It seems like all the primary care docs are FP, not IM. Would I be able to work as a hospitalist?

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[Allosteopath]

Not a practicing physician, but from what I understand credentialing can become a bit of an issue for certain specialties. In Canada IM is a 4 year program, while in the US its only 3, and in many cases want to see 4 years of post graduate medical education. I say this as a medical student who would likely pursue a residency that's easily transferable back to Canada without too much hassle (ie. maybe not internal medicine unless its a 4 year program).

That being said, I am not an expert on the subject and I would recommend that you reach out to the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ontario via email or phone with your specific scenario because there may be non-published pathways for you to reach practice - or they have knowledge of the best ways to reach your goals.

 

[lillilanda]

My understanding is that the extra year wouldn’t be an issue for Ontario, since I’ve been out of training and practicing for several years. I would do a quick fellowship in Geri or something if needed. But not worth doing, if there’s no practice setting in Ontario that would be attractive to me!

 

[Allosteopath]

Well if that is not a tremendous issue for you, definitely reach out to the College, they likely have physician recruiters that can get you set up in the right direction!

Best of luck!

 

[skyuppercutt]

Ontario IM resident here. Very easy to get a job in Canada as an IM hospitalist or doing outpatient care. Internists here rarely do primary care because you get to bill more for seeing consults from family doctors. The biggest obstacle that I see is getting a license by the royal college and CPSO. They have a lot of pathways though so the first step on your part should be to contact the royal college AND the CPSO to see what needs to be done, so you can get licensed here

 

[pasternk]

Internal Medicine is very different between the U.S. and Canada.

In Canada, they are generally specialist consultants, assist with complex management, then the patient goes back to their family doctor.

This is also the general structure in the hospital setting, where hospitalists are FP/GPs, and Internal Medicine generally provides consultations.

Unless the patient is in the ICU/CDU, in which case the MRP (most responsible physician) is Internal Medicine team or the Intensivists.

With Ontario, you can get a type of supervised licence for a year, having completed 3 years of U.S. postgraduate training.

Then, you can get full registration.

You do though have to write the Canadian licensing exams to get registration with the CPSO.

 

[Cyrus11]

Would really appreciate info/advice - I’m a Canadian citizen, lived in US most of my life. I’m an internist, I do outpatient only, and see mostly fairly complex patients. We are considering the possibility of moving to Ontario to be closer to family. Realistically what are my options? Is it even possible to have this type of practice in Canada? Currently I see about 65 patients a week, I have heard Canadian docs usually have to see way more than that to stay afloat? It seems like all the primary care docs are FP, not IM. Would I be able to work as a hospitalist?
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[Cyrus11]

I have been badly preoccupied with this and don't know the answer. If you found out I'd really appreciate if you let me know.
My question is if it is possible for an IM trained US doctor to practice as an GP/ Family doctor in Ontario?

 

[pasternk]

In the same sense that an OB or surgeon could practise as a GP, yes, you could do it.

It would be unusual, and your training wouldn't be consistent with the scope of what GPs take care of (i.e. kids, women's health, minor procedures, musculoskeletal injuries, etc).