US med student interested in canadian residency

[justwondering]

hi guys,
im a 4th year US citizen about to start applying for residency in family medicine in the US. my husband has just heard about a good job opportunity in alberta. im wondering how welcome i would be in canadian residency programs (i.e. would i have a much lower chance of getting in?). what is your schedule for applying for a residency to start in summer 07? is it even possible at this point ( i havent taken any canadian exams)? would it be better to start my residency here then transfer? is transferring feasible?

thanks! sorry for all the q's. maybe someone could refer me to a website that wouldhave the info.
thanks!

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[coastal]

FMG's have traditionally only had access to the 2nd round of Carms (Canadian Residency Matching Service-I think). First round all the Canadian med students have a go. Then, FMG's and Can. med students who went unmatched enter the second round. There are always lots of family medicine spots left in the second round. If you go to the carms website (google) you can find statistics about what has been available in the second round.

Currently, a couple of court challenges are prompting big changes in the residency matching system, with the end result likely to be that FMGs will be able to apply for spots in the first round. How this will happen hasn't been worked out, nor when whatever is decided upon would come into effect. Probably not for 2007, though.

cheers

 

[SMRT]

hi guys,
im a 4th year US citizen about to start applying for residency in family medicine in the US. my husband has just heard about a good job opportunity in alberta. im wondering how welcome i would be in canadian residency programs (i.e. would i have a much lower chance of getting in?). what is your schedule for applying for a residency to start in summer 07? is it even possible at this point ( i havent taken any canadian exams)? would it be better to start my residency here then transfer? is transferring feasible?

thanks! sorry for all the q's. maybe someone could refer me to a website that wouldhave the info.
thanks!

Hi,

I'm by no means an expert on this, but my understanding is that US grads from LCME accredited schools have always been able to match along with Canadian grads in the first round of CaRMS. I think the rules vary a little from province to province however. Your best bet is to contact the schools that you are interested in. If you are just looking for Alberta, then it would just be U Alberta and U Calgary.

In terms of the schedule, CaRMS applications are due in December I think. The licensing exam (MCCQE) is written at the end of 4th year (there's no exam written during med school like the USMLE). For more info check out www.carms.ca

 

[pattycanuck]

Hope I dont spoil the party, but consider the following (I think for most if not all positions in CaRMS):

Canadian funded residency positions are for Canadian citizens of permanent residents (unless you are sponsored by a third party - eg government - for your training).

Sorry.

 

[justwondering]

thanks for all the info! i'll have to take a look at those sites.

 

[t33sg1rl]

To the OP, if your husband is being sponsored by an employer, are you sure you won't have permanent resident status? It's worth checking.

Anyway, I'm a Canadian citizen/US permanent resident attending school in the US and my question is about student loans for anyone that knows. Federal loans will be in forbearance during a US residency-would that be true if I did a Canadian residency, or would I have to start paying them back?

And more importantly, if I owe between $160-180K on graduation day, in Amercian money, in anyone's opinion, would my ability to repay that be much less in Canada than in the US? I always thought Canadian doctors made less but I really don't know. Right now the exchange rate would benefit someone paying back an American loan in Canadian dollars, but I don't think I can count on that being true in 5 years-the pendulum might swing the other way.

 

[trustwomen]

If I owe between $160-180K on graduation day, in Amercian money, in anyone's opinion, would my ability to repay that be much less in Canada than in the US? I always thought Canadian doctors made less but I really don't know. Right now the exchange rate would benefit someone paying back an American loan in Canadian dollars, but I don't think I can count on that being true in 5 years-the pendulum might swing the other way.

A more important factor will be to see what happens to the US medical system in the next few years. There are a lot of changes that are just beginning - keep track of what's happening with the malpractice crisis, the uninsured crisis leading to universal health care in some places, HMO policies, etc...

Canadian doctors do earn somewhat less, especially in the highly specialized fields, and - more importantly - pay more taxes (except in Alberta). However, they also pay far, far less in malpractice insurance (varies by specialty and province) due to the CMPA. Cost of living is also a factor - "expensive" American cities are far more expensive than ours, even Toronto. Or if you want to do rural medicine you can't beat Canada - they throw money at you and you can live like a queen.

I'd say evaluate the options when you are near graduation and have chosen your specialty and know what kind of area you'd like to live in. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

 

[trustwomen]

Federal loans will be in forbearance during a US residency-would that be true if I did a Canadian residency, or would I have to start paying them back?

Don't know that exactly, however I do know that if needed, you could easily get credit up here during residency and cover the payments due on your US loans with your Canadian line of credit (up to 150K from Royal Bank, anyway). Prime rate is lower in Canada, too (well, at this moment, anyway). It would be a simple way to delay paying them off.

Just a thought.

 

[t33sg1rl]

Don't know that exactly, however I do know that if needed, you could easily get credit up here during residency and cover the payments due on your US loans with your Canadian line of credit (up to 150K from Royal Bank, anyway). Prime rate is lower in Canada, too (well, at this moment, anyway). It would be a simple way to delay paying them off.

Just a thought.

If the rates are lower, I'd probably be best off moving the first 150K to a Canadian loan and then focusing on paying off the rest of the American loans first.

Thank you to everyone for bringing up very good points-especially about malpractice, I hadn't realized there was any difference. I don't know what I want to specialize in yet, but I'm drawn to ob-gyn, especially the ob part. I've learned not to say that when people ask, though, because they always think I'm crazy considering the current situation in the US. If I end up really wanting it, Canada might be very attractive.

 

[trustwomen]

If the rates are lower, I'd probably be best off moving the first 150K to a Canadian loan and then focusing on paying off the rest of the American loans first.

Thank you to everyone for bringing up very good points-especially about malpractice, I hadn't realized there was any difference. I don't know what I want to specialize in yet, but I'm drawn to ob-gyn, especially the ob part. I've learned not to say that when people ask, though, because they always think I'm crazy considering the current situation in the US. If I end up really wanting it, Canada might be very attractive.

OB malpractice is the absolute pits in the US. It's insanely, ridiculously high. Here, it is still the highest from among the specialties, but the rates are reasonable (and the provincial health care system usually reimburses most of the cost anyway). Check out the website for the Canadian Medical Protective Association, it's really neat. You can even find rates by province and specialty. Then compare that to the U.S. (especially places that haven't instituted tort reform! )

 

[tussy]

double posted - deleted. sorry.

 

[tussy]

Here are the CMPA fee schedule in case anyone is interested. It has all specialties, resident/fellows fees as well.

http://www.cmpa-acpm.ca/cmpapd02/cm...iles/admin_docs/common/fees/pdf/2006cal-e.pdf

As previously mentioned - you do get some or all of what you pay refunded depending on a bunch of factors including province or work, how much you bill, etc. At least this gives you a starting point.