IMG in Canada : How are you surviving?

[canuck78]

Thanks for the quick feedback. I am already doing some research to reach out to local ophthalmologists and recruiters. Their feedback will be decisive on my decision to move forward with a PR application.

Few questions/comments regarding your answer;
- Most of what you may have read about physician shortages is mainly budgetary. Some Canadian specialist graduates can't get jobs in Canada. --> from what I could read most shortages are structural and due to barriers placed at entry level, and this since more than a decade. I guess the budgetary cuts are an additional blow, but typically the savings have a limited impact on (already) short supplied roles. At least, this has been my experience in Europe. Are you sure that Canadian specialists can't find jobs after going through approved education and trainings?

Yes I am sure. I've an attached an article but I have also had personal experience through friends. For example I had a friend who graduated from what is considered the best plastic surgery residency in Canada, did non-cosmetics plastics, won tons of surgical awards, did a masters while completing her residency, did a fellowship after residency and still couldn't find a job. She ended up doing another short fellowship while still looking. She got one job offer in Canada with minimal surgical time at a relatively small hospital. Wait times are mainly budgetary. The structural issues you are talking about is IMGs get relicensed. There are very few residencies left after Canadian students get matched with their residencies. There are some problems attracting doctors to certain regions because of pay and being in more rural regions. Opportunities for the spouse of physicians is often an issue in many areas. Due to the cost of med school and how competitive it is to get admission many have no desire to be GPs. Now that there is a medical school only for GPs this has slowly helped the issue and the majority of IMGs become GPs. There are certain specialties that are not as popular with Canadian med students like pathology, psychiatry, public health and there may be a few more but those are the ones that stand out so those are often the specialties leftover for IMGs to compete for. There is also a lack of French speaking physicians so of the available residencies after Canadian students match many are in Quebec and it can be hard to attract French speaking physicians. There are often more IMGs in smaller French speaking communities in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nearly-one-in-five-new-specialist-doctors-cant-find-a-job-after/

 

[nayr69sg]

Hello,

I understood from previous discussions that an ophthalmology residency spot is as good as impossible to get in Canada. My situation is slightly different, so I would appreciate a feedback or if anyone can redirect me.

I am 32 years old and graduated in the Netherlands from one of Europe's best medical school in 2014 (and one of the world top 30) and just finished my residency in Ophthalmology. Netherlands not being an approved jurisdiction, my only options to practice in Canada are;
a) To repeat residency --> which is a definitive no from my side too
b) Try a Practice Ready Assessesment in a province that allows it for Medical Specialists (Alberta being one).

Should I decide to settle in Canada, what are the chance that I can practice Ophthalmology through a PRA program? I saw in statistics that European IMGs have the highest matching rate for residency programs, would that also be the case for PRAs?

Note also that I have a good understanding of French (not enough to apply in Quebec).

Thank you very much!

You will never know until you try.

You will need to have Permanent Residency status in Canada first. You got that all done?

If you do, just write in to the CPSA and try for their PRA program. You have nothing to lose.

 

[canuck78]

You will never know until you try.

You will need to have Permanent Residency status in Canada first. You got that all done?

If you do, just write in to the CPSA and try for their PRA program. You have nothing to lose.

Assume there is a good chance that they only want to go through the PR process if they know there is a decent chance they'll be able to get licensed. If not they'd go elsewhere or stay where they are.

 

[celebiy]

hi i'm an IMG doctor in Turkey, i will finish my internal medicine residency program next year. I'm studying for for mccqe1 and after that i'll study for nac-osce. I want to be a family medicine resident in Canada. what are the possibilities? after take all the exams and PR is it possible to attending a residency programe in 1 year. state doesn't matter for me.

 

[canuck78]

hi i'm an IMG doctor in Turkey, i will finish my internal medicine residency program next year. I'm studying for for mccqe1 and after that i'll study for nac-osce. I want to be a family medicine resident in Canada. what are the possibilities? after take all the exams and PR is it possible to attending a residency programe in 1 year. state doesn't matter for me.

You need to be a PR or citizen to apply to apply for any residency spots. Have you looked to see if you qualify? CRS score above 470 is what you'll likely need to be accepted. Impossible to say what your chances are. They are certainly better than many specialties. If you are not living in Canada that will likely count against you. It also depends on how many spots are left an how many IMGs are competing for the spots.

 

[nayr69sg]

hi i'm an IMG doctor in Turkey, i will finish my internal medicine residency program next year. I'm studying for for mccqe1 and after that i'll study for nac-osce. I want to be a family medicine resident in Canada. what are the possibilities? after take all the exams and PR is it possible to attending a residency programe in 1 year. state doesn't matter for me.

Yes it is possible. Is it difficult? Yes. The chances are pretty low as well. But possible? Yes.

Take all the exams then apply. You never know till you try. But do keep your expectations in check. I think only about 7-10% of IMGs match to a residency.

You do need to be a PR in order to apply for residency spots.

Good Luck!

 

[celebiy]

Thank you for your kind responds, I'll try to do it. Which state could be easiest to succsess in your opinion?

 

[canuck78]

Thank you for your kind responds, I'll try to do it. Which state could be easiest to succsess in your opinion?

You need to research whether you qualify for PR first.

 

[nayr69sg]

Thank you for your kind responds, I'll try to do it. Which state could be easiest to succsess in your opinion?

Saskatchewan

 

[Naturgrl]

Saskatchewan

How so as physicians and specialists are on the SINP ineligible occupation list?

 

[canuck78]

How so as physicians and specialists are on the SINP ineligible occupation list?

They have a special program to train a certain number of GPs in underserviced area, SK has a relatively small medical school and it's not the most popular province to move to for physicians for various reasons so is more likely than some other provinces to have leftover GP residency spots..

 

[nayr69sg]

How so as physicians and specialists are on the SINP ineligible occupation list?

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2020/june/15/budget-health#:~:text=The 2020-21 Ministry of,Health Minister Jim Reiter said.

The 2020-21 Ministry of Health budget is $5.8 billion, an increase of $255 million or 4.6 per cent from 2019-20, and represents the highest investment ever.


Saskatchewan is one of the few if ONLY province that has increased its budget for healthcare for 2020-2021.

I know AB and ON have cut. Not sure about the rest.

My guess is that with funding for new doctors the best place to go is where the budget has gone up. Not down.

Saskatchewan is also not a particularly popular place to live. It is hard to attract doctors to work and live there. Hence they have many programs to attract doctors including IMGs. They need to.

Saskatchewan has good practice ready assessment programs. I have met many family doctors who went to Saskatchewan did their PRAs and never had to redo residency. They also do not have CCFP but don't need it to practice across Canada. After serving their obligations in Saskatchewan they then moved to Alberta.

 

[canuck78]

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2020/june/15/budget-health#:~:text=The 2020-21 Ministry of,Health Minister Jim Reiter said.

The 2020-21 Ministry of Health budget is $5.8 billion, an increase of $255 million or 4.6 per cent from 2019-20, and represents the highest investment ever.


Saskatchewan is one of the few if ONLY province that has increased its budget for healthcare for 2020-2021.

I know AB and ON have cut. Not sure about the rest.

My guess is that with funding for new doctors the best place to go is where the budget has gone up. Not down.

Saskatchewan also has good practice ready assessment programs. I have met many family doctors who went to Saskatchewan did their PRAs and never had to redo residency. They also do not have CCFP but don't need it to practice across Canada. After serving their obligations in Saskatchewan they then moved to Alberta.

More doctors is unlikely to be a large component of the healthcare investment. Usually increased infrastructure to increase capacity in the system. The bigger issue is attracting and retaining doctors to work in the province. Unless you have some connection to SK doctors aren't usually interested in moving to to SK. They only opened a children's hospital a few years ago.

 

[ivan216hk]

Hello,
*I know this thread is catered for practicing IMG doctors and not MBBS students like me, but I would be most grateful if you all kind seniors could give me some insight into whether my plan is viable or just plain silly. Many, many thanks.*

I am a 3rd year MBBS student from Hong Kong. I figured I will have to emigrate to Canada some time in the next decade or so and I hope to practice medicine here by then. Seeing the considerable difficulties faced by even the experienced IMG doctors and specialists, I am thinking of an alternative route to achieve my goals:

• I am planning to discontinue my MBBS and transfer to a BScN program in Ontario.
• I should be able to apply for PR after the BScN. That way, I could become a registered nurse AND a PR after 4 years.
• ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• I know this meant forfeiting my MBBS, my hopes of learning and practicing medicine again rests on applying for a Canadian MD program after MCAT(now with my RN and PR status).
• Even if I fail to enrol into MD, I would still be a registered nurse in Canada and I am marginally okay with that.

Dear seniors, would you fancy my chances of finally practicing medicine in Canada again? Many thanks for your time and attention. I do apologize again for using this platform for IMGs to ask for my MD plans.

Happy holidays, and may peace be with you all.

 

[canuck78]

Hello,
*I know this thread is catered for practicing IMG doctors and not MBBS students like me, but I would be most grateful if you all kind seniors could give me some insight into whether my plan is viable or just plain silly. Many, many thanks.*

I am a 3rd year MBBS student from Hong Kong. I figured I will have to emigrate to Canada some time in the next decade or so and I hope to practice medicine here by then. Seeing the considerable difficulties faced by even the experienced IMG doctors and specialists, I am thinking of an alternative route to achieve my goals:

• I am planning to discontinue my MBBS and transfer to a BScN program in Ontario.
• I should be able to apply for PR after the BScN. That way, I could become a registered nurse AND a PR after 4 years.
• ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• I know this meant forfeiting my MBBS, my hopes of learning and practicing medicine again rests on applying for a Canadian MD program after MCAT(now with my RN and PR status).
• Even if I fail to enrol into MD, I would still be a registered nurse in Canada and I am marginally okay with that.

Dear seniors, would you fancy my chances of finally practicing medicine in Canada again? Many thanks for your time and attention. I do apologize again for using this platform for IMGs to ask for my MD plans.

Happy holidays, and may peace be with you all.

You'll need to contact the school to see if you'll be able to transfer. The other big hurdle will be getting a study permit. To get approved you need to show that the course will lead to career advancement when you return to HK and makes sense based on your previous work history and education. Your application screams immigration not genuine student. I think you're likely to struggle to get approved for a SP. You can try but please don't quit medical school thinking the SP is a formality.

Would really suggest finishing your medical school if you only have 1.5 years left. Getting into a Canadian medical school is very tough and often takes a few tries and many Canadians go to medical school abroad because they haven't been accepted in Canada even after a few tries. Many get masters degrees while still applying. Is there a reason you want to come to Canada specifically? If you want to leave HK it would be much easier to get into a residency program or junior doctor program in the UK, Ireland, US and perhaps Australia or NZ (not sure so you'll need to research).