Dr Orakzai

Hi great to know u qualify for express entry. Can u please share how ur points added up to qualify for express entry application for pr with out lmia? Thanks.

christmasoompa

What are you scoring on the CRS? If it's not enough to know that you'll be selected and given an ITA almost instantly (i.e. 500 or more), then personally I wouldn't recommend that you get employment ref letters just yet, as they could well be out of date by the time you do get an ITA.

But when the time does come to get the letters done, it should be written on company letterhead, and include job title, dates of employment, duties, etc.

HTH.

pmpm

Thank you. I have checked on CIC website and entered all my details. It did not give me my points but stated that I'm eligible for express entry route. I'm trying to find a website where I can see my points. Do you have a link?

I am aware that I'll go on waiting list and it depends on other candidates scores as well as they go top to bottom.

Is there any expiry date of these letters?

pmpm

Hi I found the link and calculated my points. I am scoring 438. I do not know how many points are needed for PR but I know when I put all that information for eligibility it showed that I was eligible.

christmasoompa

You are eligible to apply and enter the 'pool' of applicants. Trouble is, only those with the highest points are then selected from that pool and invited to apply for PR, and unfortunately it's never gone as low as 438. You can see previous draw levels on the CIC website, recently those getting invites have been scoring at least 480-490.

It's still worth applying in case the points drop, but it would be wort trying to get your points score up too.

HTH.

pmpm

Thanks Christmassompa for your reply. The problem is these points are fixed for me. The only thing which can really make my points higher is LMIA and I was hoping to go with PR but it seems I will have to reconsider my stance now. What if I apply for PR now with existing points and then start looking for job and if and when I get LMIA I can update it. Is that possible?

christmasoompa

Yes, it's possible, and that's exactly what I'd do if I were you. You never know, the points might drop so if you've already paid for your IELTS and ECA, might as well use them and apply, and then job hunt in the meantime.

Good luck.

Richb1970

Update for folks here and also a request for more advice please!!

I was pre-screened and told I needed a letter of competency for my missing psychiatry rotation. This then went to the main committee who have stated that they no longer accept a letter from a consultant as enough and the clinical rotation needs to be completed. This apparently was changed 26th September this year.

So I need to write up a plan for the rotation and get this approved and also find a psychiatrist willing to let me shadow them for 4 weeks. If anyone did this I would greatly appreciate advice on where and how they arranged the rotation and what they put into the educational plan they submitted to the college

I have been contacting psychiatrists locally but no luck so far as it seems in the NHS now you cant do anything without committee approval for fear you allow a lunatic loose in your hospital

Stinkypup

Thats a bummer- I think when we did the same for paeds, they had to run it by the division of paeds within the hospital but they were fine. maybe times have changed. I think that Snoop described what we did during our "attachment" earlier in the thread so I wont repeat her. I think that they just want you to get some evidence of clinics, on call etc- never had to see patients on our own, just shadowed usually Consultants but also SpRs on call (daytime I hasten to add, say on a Saturday. We wrote up a log boog although it was never checked- It seems BS in view of the psych input you experience on a day to day basis during your days work. When you say college, do you mean CCFP?

snoopdawg

I assume you mean the CPSBC.
Frankly it's disgusting to block you for 4 weeks psych given the amount of real psych you will do on a daily basis- makes no sense. BC is desperate for GPs- I was told last night that Kamloops has only 38 GPs for the whole city and has a ridiculously high orphan patient rate. Vernon has more GPs and much smaller population and it is still struggling.
All I can say is keep trying local specialists- maybe take a sabbatical for a month and go further afield, it will be worth it in the end. Good luck!

Partyof5Van

Hi,
What a great (v long) thread! Thank you to everyone who posts great advice and their experiences of living/ working in Canada. I avidly used this website for research before we moved to Canada from the UK in
2014. I desperately need some advice....

Both my husband and I are doctors - he is an OBGYN and I'm a GP. We moved to Vancouver in August 2014 and whilst my husband started work straight away, I concentrated on settling in our 3 children, integrating into the community, making friends and just generally being chef/ housemaid/ cleaner/ school drop off person/ after school activities organizer etc etc! Anyone with kids will understand... I now have 2 kids at school and have found daycare for my youngest who is 3 and I'm more than ready now to get back to General Practice.
It was always a worry for me that I was leaving it late and it may be a problem getting back- I suppose I was just aware of how much time/ effort/ paperwork that was needed for my husband to get here that I was procrastinating. I last worked in June 2013 before I had my last baby...
I have sent off all the documents requested to physicians apply/ health match BC and to the CCFP for an exemption based on my MRCGP.
I graduated from medical school in 2002 and completed a recognized GPVTS in 2006, however I never had a paediatric rotation. I knew this might be a problem as I read posts from Snoopdawg and stinkypup before we moved over. Today, I received an email from health match bc basically giving me a heads up that they were fairly certain that not having paeds rotation would be a problem but also that I needed 460 hours of practice as a GP in the last 3 years to work.
I phoned the RCPS of BC and spoke to someone in the licensing department for overseas doctors to discuss not having worked in 3 years and he told me I had to back to the UK and complete those hours there before I could be granted a provisional licence!! Easier said than done given I have 3 small children and a husband with a permanent job here!! I didn't even mention the paediatrics at this point! I explained that I completely understood that I may need to complete courses, shadow other doctors, be assessed etc but he was adamant that I'd have to do it in my 'country of jurisdiction'. It was like talking to a robot. There was no out of the box thinking. I'm willing to do extra training,work for free, basically anything to allow me to obtain a provisional licence to practice. He said he'd speak to his manager and call me back if he had any further information. He didn't.
I was fully expecting to have to do paediatrics and and I'm willing to do that. We love our life here in Vancouver and our children are settled and happy.
I'm very upset as I can't see any way around this and feel that I'm trapped- unable to use my degree and everything I've worked hard for. It's so hard to get a GP here and I'm willing to work for free!
Any advice at all would be appreciated. Many thanks in advance.... Gutted....

Stinkypup

That is crazy... It seems that the BC college have lost the plot-they dont want qualified GPs helping out their massive lack of doctors. Why make someone go back to the UK (impossible in your situation) . Why not get you on some kind of part time "back to practice " scheme which I would presume would be feasible for say mums who have career breaks. You would shadow someone - you thought that a bit of a lack of paeds was your problem... Clearly not. I'm not sure what they would allow you to do here as you would lack registration presumably. Could they give you a limited provisional licence but do the hours here? You have MRCGP for god sake!! Do they know what hoops you gave to dive through for that ?? I hope that you just spoke to the wrong person..trouble is, you didn't even mention the paeds issue. Canadian colleges love their paperwork and bureaucratic paperwork

Partyof5Van

Thank you Stinkypup! I was worried about getting a few ' what did you expect?' comments as I've not worked for three years. I also forgot to mention, as my post was so long, that I got on the phone to health match bc straight after that to ask them about my lack of 460 hours in the last 3 years and they said they'd get back to me tomorrow but it's normally a college prerequisite!
I did wonder what people on a career break did to get back to work and hope there might be a phased return like you say. I'm completely willing to do whatever it takes, unpaid, full time work for 'the bigger picture'.
I wait in (not much) hope for a call from health match bc tomorrow...
My only other thought was trying to arrange a face to face meeting with a registrar from the CPSBC to explain the situation and ask what I can do?

snoopdawg

I despair for the second time tonight!!!!
The crazy thing is that the patients would happily have you as a GP, it's the college who puts up barriers.
I've no idea if this would help, but since you need to stay local and are willing to try anything, have you looked at
Programs | International Medical Graduate Office
Maybe just contact them, it still may not work as the college may still insist on hours worked in the UK first, but maybe they have come across this before.
There is also
International Medical Doctors of BC - AIMDBC
They may have some experience also.
I also agree a face to face meeting may help at the college.
Again, good luck!

Richb1970

Hi

It does seem that paperwork is king and there is no thought for people who dont fit exactly into their rules.

I have tried various things to get round my issue (dont have a psych rotation) and its like a dead end so I am just going to get on and do it.

You are pretty stuck as I know back here in the UK its a nightmare to get back into GP because of appraisal/ revalidation and you cant get on a performers list without them.

Have you thought about approaching the local vocational training scheme/ university instead of direct to the college? They may be able to accept you as a resident. I guess it would be like doing another VTS but from my dealings with healthmatch and the college in BC they are welded to the criteria and you must fit them.

I had no problems getting registered with the CFPC as MRCGP covered that but it doesnt seem to wash with BC itself sadly