This is about Donald Smith. Donald Smith is a Canadian who went to a foreign medical school and then did residency in the U.S. on the J-1 visa.

Then he came back to Canada and basically had to sit around for two years. Because he found it impossible to get a license to practice medicine.
You can contact him: donalda13@hotmail.com
He also has an extensive website.


Here is what he wrote about his depressing experience with the J-1 Visa:


Knowing that it would be extremely difficult to obtain a medical residency or practise medicine in Canada without Canadian training I applied for and secured a residency in the United States.

I was able to secure the letter from the RCPSC (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada) stating they would recognize in full or in part the specific residency program at the specific hospital I was going to do my residency in.

In short it was my understanding I would be able to sit for their certifying exams and thus get a permanent medical licence where I intended to practise upon returning or anywhere in Canada, the RCPSC web site now says there is no guarantee U.S. training will be recognized in Canada, and even if you finish a fellowship in Canada.

Unfortunately I did not keep abreast of their rule changes during training so when it was time to apply for the RCPSC certifying exams they wrote back (after a couple of months) that I needed to have my training in the U.S. formally assessed (after paying them $900) but it looked like, on the basis of their present rules, I would need additional training on top of my completed U.S. training even if I passed U.S. certification exams, to qualify to sit for RCPSC exams.

I then wrote the provincial recruiters and medical licencing authorities in Alberta, B.C., New Brunswick, Manitoba told me to go to their website, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Yukon, to see if I could get licenced as an FP and the answer was I could probably get a temporary medical licence in some provinces if I was willing and able to practise in under serviced areas but permanent licensure would depend on being RCPSC or CFPC certified even if I passed all the MCC exams.

(road blocks David Smith faced after returning to Canada, what Canada told him)

1. We have no available funding at present to take in new students or fellows, if you can fund yourself or get your country (I did tell them beforehand I was a Canadian citizen) or institution to sponsor you we would be happy to consider you.

Apparently a lot of Canadian fellowship programs only have provincial government funding for a single first year fellow every other year or even every two years, unlike most programs in the U.S. which have funding every year for more than one fellow.

2. You've had training elsewhere (of course, since I couldn't pay for my training in Canada I had to go to the U.S.)

3. You don't have the necessary undergraduate credits we look for in an applicant or you really haven't had any recent research experience (even though I had specifically stated in my application that I wanted to have research experience as the reason for applying, even here it seemed to be a Catch-22 situation for me),

4. You've been out of university too long (of course, I was doing residency),

5. Do you really intend to stay in Canada after your 2 year Home Country Return Reuirement is up?

6. Are you applying to this program in order to get into the Canadian medical system

Most program directors and medical school faculty are aware of the 2 year Home Country Return requirement for J-1 visa holders, there seemed to be a lot of skepticism as to my avowed plans of staying in Canada even after my 2 year Home Country Return was up and I got the feeling some interviewers didn't want to waste Canadian training on somebody who was likely to go to back to the United States, or they felt there must be something wrong with me for wanting to practise in Canada.

7. You've applied to other programs too (well, if I applied to only one program would I have been guaranteed acceptance?)

8. Is this really your primary career goal (for the Master's programs obviously not, else I would have done it after completing my bachelor's degree instead of going to medical school and if I said it was, I'd be lying).

Plus, I was told I would still need to remedy the deficiencies in my U.S. training (read go back and do at least a year of residency all over again even after finishing fellowship) to be eligible to sit for the RCPSC subspecialty certifying exams. In addition some Canadian subspecialty fellowship training programs are shorter than their U.S. equivalents (I guess because Canadian residencies are one year longer than in the U.S.) so there might be problems getting U.S. accreditation for the Canadian training in those programs.


DAVID SMITH'S OPINION:

Since the prerequisites needed for medical licensure (even a temporary one) in Canada, unless you were educated AND trained AND certified in the U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, Eire, and South Africa, are extremely difficult to attain if not impossible for most.

If your desire is to practice medicine in North America, take and pass (at least 85 or higher to ensure a good residency position) the USMLE, apply for a residency in the U.S. , it is much easier to obtain this medical training in the U.S. than in Canada) and plan on staying there permanently.

Although welfare payouts may be lower, there is no GST, income tax rates are lower and there are places just as crime free and as beautiful as Lake Louise (maybe I'm saying it's a sweet lemon but believe me it's true).

CONCLUSION

If you are a Canadian on J-1, then this is the scenario that follows after you finish residency in the U.S.:

Can't get a J-1 waiver, because Health Canada does not issue 'no-objection' letters anymore.

So you have to come back to Canada for two years that "return to home country' requirement.

Once you come back, to get a license to practice medicine, they have to pass ALL the Canadian tests (eg MCCEE, MCCQE Part 1, MCCQE Part 2, AND the Canadian exams for the Residency you did in the U.S.)

Now as you may know, unlike the USMLE (which can be written anytime) the Canadian tests are only offered a few times a year.

So to pass all those Canadian tests, my best estimate would be atleast one year. Most likely one year and a half for most people.

You are living in La-La land if you think you will get a job in a major city (GTA, Montreal, Vancouver).

As a foregn grad you will have only the option of rural/underserviced areas.

Will you know sign a 5 yr contract with some rural hospital in boony land (eg. Labrador, NFLD, NWT)?

Or will you wait another 6 months for that "two year return to Canada" requirement to end, and then go back to the U.S. on an H-1B where you can earn double the salary then in rural canada?

UPDATE:

The College of Family Physicians of Canada has the practice eligible route to certification but one needs to have practised 5 months in Canada before being allowed to take the exam (the requirement is 5 months for those certified by the American Board of Family Practice and one still needs to take the CFPC certifying exam). Again a Catch-22 situation for most International Medical Graduates who can't get licenced to practice because they are not certified but need to have practiced in Canada, in lieu of Canadian training, to sit for the certifying exams.

ARE THERE OTHER REQUIREMENTS for an INDEPENDENT PRACTICE CERTIFICATE?

Unfortunately Yes.

To obtain a license to practice medicine in Canada, the following will be assessed:

Your U.S. Training (specific rotations are needed)

How many research months are needed, depending on what province you apply for.

All this is assessed by the Royal College for a hefty fee (over $1500 now in 2003).

BRAVO!!! I couldn't have put it better myself

Looks like you know what you are talking about? So help????

What are the chances(%) of a canadian IMG to get a residency position in the USA?

Does a landed immigrante (IMG) have the same chances as a canadian citizen(IMG) in getting a residency postion in USA?

Thanks

Hey lost,

sorry. can't help you with these answers directly. However, I would recommend that you search this thread and a few others for the answers to your question (use the search command at the top of the page, then pick the appropriate thread(s) after putting your query words in). I suspect no one is answering because the question has been answered ad nauseam.

As per anoncan's rather loud remarks above; Yes, it is VERY difficult to get back to Canada in order to practice medicine, even after doing a residency in the states. BUT it is NOT impossible. NOR is it NEXT to impossible. I have spoken to 7 doctors who have done this. All of them are under 40.

Anoncan does bring up several very valid points, such as:
1. you get paid (alot) less in canada than USA
2. the current legislation in place is quite silly considering the current need for doctors, especially in underserviced areas.

However I would like to add my .02 to this:

In light of the increasing shortage of doctors in this Country, and in the current exodus of many qualified doctors, there is a growing need for doctors in Canada. This problem will only increase with time as the babyboomer generation ages. I believe that it is only a matter of time before changes to certain policies occur in Canada, making it easier for foreign trained doctors to come to Canada AND practice medicine.

I realise that my views may be somewhat naive. And I am not depending upon this change. WHether I practice in USA or Canada I anticipate the same quality of life. While I remain a patriotic Canadian for the rest of my life, I have no real need to practice medicine in Canada. I would love to do it, but I'm not letting any of my dreams ride on it.

Cheers all,

SIlenthunder

Stated briefly, the chances for a Canadian IMG getting a US residency are excellent...most have no problem...but your step 1 scores must be respectable. A person with permanent residency status in the US (ie, green card) does have an advantage over non-resident IMGs because he/she needn't restrict themselves to only those hospitals that provide J1 or H1-B visa.

__________________
CanIMG
Moderator - Canadian IMG and Immigration Visa Forums

While it's true you can get temporary licensing in some provinces if you have US training you have to be careful.

1) You will eventually have to write the MCCEE, MCCQQ 1 and 2 and any board exams they have in the specialty you got training in.

2) Also the length of the training programs has to be the SAME!! For example the only one I know that is the same (or longer) is Family practice. In the US =3 years, in Canada =2 years. However Internal med in the US is = 3 years, and in Canada =4 years. So you also have to make up that extra year, which is impossible.

Your only "real" hope is to do this training in countries where they have time equivalant to Canada ie Australia, UK, Ireland or New Zealand. Then it will be recognized without much problem (providing you pass the tests)