Help a Canadian out! Advice for going International most welcomed! :)

[polarb]

Hi all!

This is going to be a rather lengthy post but I've been doing some research and lurking in this forum to get information on international medicine. I just have some questions to clear up and maybe you guys can give me some advice on my current situation!

So a little bit about myself, I am in my 4th year of undergrad right now at Western in Canada. I'm an Ontario resident (with no geographical preference anywhere) and I've applied to the Ontario and Alberta schools. My stats are:
OMSAS cGPA: 3.82
MCAT: first try (11/8/11 S) and second try (11/7/11 R) -> cursed verbal and yes, I did worst on my 2nd try despite a full summer of practicing :(
Right now, I know I stand a slim chance at the schools I applied to because of my verbal score and fairly average GPA.
I do have good ECs though: overseas volunteering, part-time employment for 4 years, hospital volunteering, tutoring, Big Brother/Big Sister, currently doing a research thesis.

I wrote my 2nd MCAT try this summer near the end of July so because of the time constraints, I did not apply to any American medical schools as my wishful thinking thought that I would improve my MCATs and be ok for Canadian schools. However, by the time I realized this foolishness, it was too late for American apps (rolling admissins, and I was bogged down by Canadian apps and thesis work).

Currently, I've been reading up on International schools and am particularly interested in applying to SGU/Ross/SABA. But I just want to clear up some questions because I'm planing to have a discussion with my parents about this.

1) The visa situation (clinical years).
Will the schools be taking care of our visa needs for our clinical years in 3rd and 4th year? OR is this something we do ourselves? Does this effect us getting a J1 or HB1 afterwards?

2) The visa situation (residency)
So it seems that getting back to Canada for residency post-caribbeans is a bit of a long shot...how are the odds for Canadian students at the caribbeans getting a residency in the States?
I know that the best visa to get is HB1 and that for Canadians, we have to write our Steps 3 and get our degrees before a hospital will consider doing that paperwork for us. So how does the timing work for that? Do we take a year off to do this? and What visa would we be on?

3) The post residency visa situation
Assuming I get a HB1: I would complete my residency in the states, get board certified, will I be allowed to stay and LIVE in the states?
If I get a JI: I finish my residency, get board certified? (can I do this with the J1 visa time constraint?) and now what can I do?

4) Coming back to Canada
I read on the Canadian College Physicians and Surgeons the 4 pathways of coming back to Canada. And that IMG with US residency training requires needs 1 year of supervision? Now are there limited spots for this process? Or is this fairly do-able?

5) Funding
I know the tuition is steep for Caribbean schools but they seem to be around the same level for Canadian students at US schools. Are Canadian banks good with giving a LOC credit for students at international schools? How about scholarship availability at these schools for Canadian students? I know for most Canadian students, the LOC is $150K…is there any way to get more?

6) Living Costs
How is the living cost on the three islands? SGU/Ross/SABA. How is the rent and food prices? I know they must overestimate this on their school websites but realistically, how much does this cost per year?

7) SGU vs. Ross vs. Saba
SGU seems to be the top runner out of all the Caribbean schools but I’ve heard people say that Saba tends to be “better” for Canadian students? As well, Saba tuition is much lower than SGU so is Saba better for Canadian? What about Ross?
The position where I will be at if I don’t get into medical school is either a year off or pursue a masters degree. I feel like my GPA is ok so I don’t really to do another year of undergrad schooling. I definitely do not want to pursue a masters degree because I know through my thesis that research is not for me.

I know to realistically get a shot at Canadian or US schools, I’d have to rewrite the MCAT…something that I really do not want to do seeing as how I did worse on the 2nd try…

My goal in the end is primary care so not being able to get competitive specialties isn’t really a big issue for me. As well, living in the States is not an issue for me (provided that the visa pulls through)

If you are still reading this, thank you very much. I know a lot of the questions I posted are answered in the post but I’ve read through a lot of post and only got partial answers for most of them. It’d be really great if someone could answer them for me!

Thanks!

[Shiz77]

You have good stats, I would do a masters or reapply to Canadian med schools after volunteering in a third world country for a year. If you want to start right away apply to US schools and DO schools for 2011. You will be in a better position than any carib MD as a DO student and almost half the DOs match into allopathic residencies. DO is almost equivalent to MD as well so it is your best option for 2011.

To be honest you don't really have a shot at western and queens due to the 7 in Verbal. U of T looks at Research so you will need a publication or two. Mac likes your personal statement/clinical experience, but I hear they look at verbal now so you're SOL. Apply to Alberta and out east as well, it's a little easier to get in. But try your best for DO and US MD, you will get in most likely and carib will not have to be an option for you.


1) The visa situation (clinical years).
I have heard the visa is not an issue for students during clinical years

2) The visa situation (residency)
Considering the stagnant number of residency slots, the projected increase in US med school seats, the projected increase in DO med school seats, the growing no. of DO's applying to the aCGME match, the projected increase of all Carib schools taking in more students and the projected increase of all IMGs applying, I would say your chances at getting a residency in the US will be as slim as going back to Canada in 5 years time. Plus the visa issue. This is of course barring a huge increase in residency slots (Something I am more on the optimistic side for). But I would go with the evidence you have now and the evidence shows no slot increase = visas will be tough to come by.

3) The post residency visa situation
Don't know, I heard you can waive your visa problems if you have a J by serving in rural area while applying for your GC, you will get it in 5-6 years

4) Coming back to Canada
I know someone who went to a carib school, completed his residency and is board certified. Right now he's in the process of coming back to Canada. He says it has gotten much easier to come back once you're board certified in US.

5) Funding
OSAP covers all the good schools, so if you get LOC and OSAP, you have pretty much 190k, plus you can borrow from friends/family etc.

7) SGU vs. Ross vs. Saba
SGU has great clinics, Ross has a better name than Saba but Saba is the cheapest and most canuck friendly in terms of matches. SGU has the biggest name but it is super super costly. You will get into all 3. AUC is another school that is approved and reputed in the caib. You will get in there as well.

If I were you I would do some research and try again for Ontario and Alberta/Maritimes schools. I would also apply to DO and US MD schools. If that doesn't work out I would look into Ireland or the Big 4. Ireland is better for coming back to Canada but it's more expensive than SGU. Personally I would not go to Australia since they don't really have a partnership program w/ Canada like Ireland does and many of them write the steps to come back to US, which in my opinion Caribbean would be better option.