UK medical students matching in Canada?

[Ella]

Hey everyone,

My brother just finished grade 11 and is entering grade 12 this fall. He wants to do medicine but we are in Canada and the chances of him getting into a canadian medical school is very low. He is looking at options of doing an undergrad degree and then applying into medical school in US but again, it's a gamble.

Recently he has shown a serious interest in going to medical school in the UK in the 6 year program right after grade 12. However, we have concerns about this. I am currently a carribean medical student and so do not have much insight into the UK schools.

The first and foremost question is what are his chances in getting back into Canada for residency? I would greatly appreciate if any canadians that have attended the UK schools (esp the ones in ireland) could tell me their experience with getting a residency position in canada. He does not want to "just settle" for family med. Do students get decent residencies in Canada coming from the UK? By this I mean does he have chances for internal med, psychiatry, etc.

I'm sure there is a bigger selection of residencies for these student in States....but he is interested in returning back to canada.

We don't want to make the mistake of sending him there right after highschool without fully knowing all the facts of what to expect in the future.

Any insight in this matter esp from fellow canadians having done this route would be greatly appreicated!

Thanks.

[Ella]

Hey guys, if anyone has any info on this it would be much appreciated. I'm just posting this in hopes that this thread gets active again and someone has some info.

Thanks.

[diogenes]

Try sdn for more info. on this. It has a lively Irish med. school forum with lots of Nth. Americans posting-
UK & Ireland - Student Doctor Network Forums (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=142)

By the way, most of Ireland is not part of the U.K.:)

[Ella]

Thanks so much....!!

[tenordoc]

I don't have any real knowledge, but I'll tell you my opinion anyway.

If he does his degree in the UK/Ireland (or Australia or New Zealand, both good options for 6 year programs as well), there is a small chance that he would match to an interesting residency in Canada, but it's really small. He'd have to jump through all the hoops that us Caribbean grads do, write the Canadian licensing exams, do the IMG exam for Ontario, etc.

It remains to be seen whether the change in the CARMS structure will help in this regard.

He has some other options, though. He could write the US exams as well and try for a US residency (he might have to do some electives in the US). Or he could just do his residency in the UK, and write the Canadian specialist exam when he wanted to return to Canada.

Whatever way he does it, he's going to jump through hoops. And by the time he's done, things may well have changed (hopefully for the better).

my $0.02 YMMV