re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

I spoke to healthmatch at the BMJ careers event at the weekend. At present there is no restrictions on where you choose to work or any minimum commitments to a practice. I guess the work permit kind of ties you in anyway.

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

Yes, you're right. There are many, many GP jobs throughout Vancouver. Healthmatch BC are not necessarily recruiting for rural areas as our GP shortage is a huge problem! You can have your pick of jobs here!

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

Did you get your registration problem sorted?

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

This was certainly more applicable in the past-when we moved over, there was no way that one could work anywhere near Vancouver-not that I wanted to! As the others are saying, where needs must, they relax the rules! It was never ridiculous with regard to living out in the sticks, I would describe us as semirural. Obviously We were tied to where we worked until we got full registration And we had our so called mentor keeping an eye on things (haha:rofl:) We could work elsewhere but I can't imagine we would do.

Interestingly-in Alberta, they seem to have got a lot more badassed aboutt dumping you way out on the Prairies, insuring that you commit yourself for years, unable to move to civilisation

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

Still in the process- not giving up yet!! We'll see........

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

Excuse sloppy spelling and capitalisation- lack of checking on my part as usual :unsure:

Don't give up partyof5van Keep us up to date with your quest:cool:

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

partyof5van, sorry to hear about your registration troubles. I am a hospital consultant in NHS so don't understand how performer lists work in the UK but if that is a non-issue, wouldn't it be easier to come back to UK to do the hours when kids are on holidays. Do you have family here where kids can stay while you do 12 hours shifts (there are plenty of these going around with urgent care centres etc) or if your husband can take sometime off? That way you only need 5-6 weeks if working 5 days a week and should be okay by end of summer holidays next year. It would also help if you want to revalidate later on. Kids will get to spend Christmas with family and enjoy great British summer while you are slogging off the hours.....

with two kids of my own, I know its easier said than done but going to VTS training back would mean doing long residency hours, nights and weekend shift for 2-3 years. I have heard its ridiculously competitive to get into residency in Canada particularly in desired areas like BC. I think you also have to do MCCQE1&2 before you can apply.

I am also thinking of emigrating to Canada. My wife is in the last year of her O&G training. We have been struggling to find about her job prospects and haven't been able to speak to someone who has first hand experience. We can really use some guidance from your husband. How competitive is it to get a O&G job? What is work like there? Are there any support structures as she would be taking up a consultant job straight after completing her training?

Thanks for your advice and really hoping that you get your registration problem sorted out.

regards

drabhinavr

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

Right - finally have arranged my psychiatry attachment. Two months to and fro with a consultant I had worked with got me nowhere so I asked an admin lass from Lothian to help and had an agreement in less than 24 hours!

Education plan submitted awaiting agreement from the college but if all OK hopefully will sort my licence for next spring prior to a family trip in July to make sure everyone on board for the move :)

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

Well done!!!
It's hard work but will be worth it in the end.
Where are you going to go on your trip?

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

We are planning a trip Summer hols so will be July - I think we will have a holiday to spend some time in Vancouver and the island and then a week or maybe 10 days around Okanagan.

Work wise Im pretty settled on somewhere between Penticton up to Vernon as it ticks the boxes professionally for me and with the University and transport links seems the best option. They also mentioned Kamloops at the careers fair

Im locuming at present so holidays arent a problem in terms of booking them so will head back in September to sort a job out

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

Sounds good.
VI is beautiful and tends to have good weather in the summer.
The Okanagan isn't crispy by then, still some green. Each community is different so time in each is good. I loved Penticton but my boys, big and little, felt it was too dry, not enough trees. More like the Med and not Canada.
Kelowna is very busy but some very nice areas. Expensive though. Has a great waterfront and increasingly nice shops.
Kamloops has never appealed to us but to be fair, I've only ever driven through and usually in the summer when it seems to be the hottest of the valley and very prone to surrounding wild fires. I remember once stopping for a coffee, stepping out into 40c heat with ash falling, it felt like I'd arrived in Hades😳
Lots love it though, so I'm missing something and they are absolutely desperate for GPs. I've heard they are starting a trial of putting nurses in with GPs ( how novel!!!!) , allowing the GP to be able to bill for the nurse visit ( can't at present unless we also see the patient which defeats the object), as long as the GP agrees to take on more patients. Hopefully reducing the orphan patient population.
Vernon, we are also desperate for GPs, it's beautiful. Has everything including great access to Kelowna airport and neighbouring UBCO , I would argue better then most of Kelowna given their traffic. In the summer, it seems the coolest spot in the valley, in the winter colder than the south but Kamloops seems colder with more snow.
You must let us know if you need any help😀

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

Ooof 40C sounds brutal!
VI trip is purely tourist, its too wet I have lived in the Lakes and want somewhere dry!
Will certainly be in touch to meet up - I need as much advice as possible. I know the PR status is linked to the job so want to make a good decision!

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

Actually Victoria has really nice summer weather- mainly dry, sunny but not as hot as here- more early 20's than early 30's. Its a very nice small city. UVIC is a good small university. I would have an open mind about it.

We don't get many 40c days, everywhere has AC, so its fine.

New website for GPs aiming for BC
 

There is a new web site for BC bound GPs
Thought it may be helpful:

Home | Recruitment and Retention

It has lots of useful links and has good step by step instructions.

I think just for GPs- it says specialists should just contact Healthmatch BC

re: Chat for and with Canadian Family Practitioners/ex UK General Practitioners
 

HI

the Question is to those GP who is working Canada:

what did you guys do with your GMC registration? giving up the register all together or just license to practice? is it just an email to GMC?

I am just considering to do this since my appraisal time is approaching fast.
Thanks for your replies.
Hassan