MrsBee

Hello!

I hope this question hasn't been asked recently, I have done a few searches and found some old threads re: this, but things seem to change with Canada and International Medical Graduates (IMG's) everytime I do a Google search!

My husband & I are both UK graduates working within the NHS currently - he is a Critical Care/ITU/Anaesthetics Consultant, I am an Emergency Medicine trainee (the same as being on a Residency program in Canada/US)...

We are both desperate to move to Canada; initially we were hoping for the Toronto area, but have been seemingly cut off at every turn in our enquiries there...(I was told last week by an agency there are more doctors driving taxi's in Toronto than working in hospitals, is this really true?!) We are still looking into different areas from a variety of different guidebooks, BC seems to coming up trumps, but we are still keen on Ontario...

The medics I have contacted who have successfully emigrated to Canada seem to have done so either on the basis of special research areas or have basically started their training all over again, but I'm determined to keep trying!

We live in Liverpool, in the Northwest of England, and now we are the parents of small children, we just really want to raise them somewhere much much better, which I see browsing the threads is a common theme...

If anyone has any insider knowledge of reputable medical agencies, or indeed you are a medic or know a medic who has moved to Canada recently, I would MASSIVELY appreciate your sharing/help!

Thank you in advance!

Natalie

fledermaus

Try these links
http://www.mcc.ca/en/IMGs.shtml
http://www.healthforceontario.ca/Wor...rnational.aspx

Alberta_Rose

If you are interested in a residency position ... would this help?
http://residency-database.helmsic.gr/Canada

snowshoveller

As a general rule canada is very suspicious of international medical training.

I have heard that it can be challenging for canadians to get a licence to practice in ontario if they went to the states to train.

To make matters worse what goes in one province is not necessarily the same in another.

You may stand a much easier time heading to the eastern provinces eg newfoundland.

As you know it is often necessary to undertake residencies again. In each province you are interested in you need to speak to the registrar of the College of Physicians & Surgeons, for the most accurate local info.

music121

Hi, a friend of mine from Switzerland has gone to Canada 6-7 years ago to do her residency, but I know she had to take the Canadian final med. exams / MCQs for expats or something (she did this while she was finishing her studies in Switz. - it was the best time to do it - and also probably easier than gaining title recognition from scratch, if this exists). Just like USMLE for the USA. Then she worked in Switz. for 1 year or 2 then left.
I lost track of her but if you really really wanted to I could find her details. They have a points visa. Good luck!

JonboyE

Hoary old myth #1. It might be nearer the truth if you inserted "unqualified or not licensed to practice in Ontario" between more and doctors. Even so, it is probably still a load of b*ll*cks.

The good news is that there is a strong demand for doctors and medics of all types in BC. It is also a well paid profession. I, for one, don't think it is entirely co-incidental that Bentley, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW and Lexus all have dealerships within a short walk of Vancouver General Hospital.

Keep hold of that determination. To practice medicine in BC you have to be licensed by the appropriate profession organization. For someone with foreign medical training this can be a long and frustrating process.

Firstly you will need to have your qualifications assessed. It is quite likely they will not be considered as adequate so you will have to take further courses and pass further exams. You will also have to work in a junior position, supervised by a doctor who may not have the skills and experience you have, for at least a year. There are not many of these positions available and the competition for them is intense.

Some British doctors seem to take great offense at the indignity of it all. However, these are the rules. Whether you trained in a top teaching hospital in the UK or in some bush station at the back end of beyond in some poverty stricken third world country, all foreign qualified doctors have to go through the same process.

At some point you will start to suspect that this is as much about restricting the number of doctors licensed to practice (and so keep earnings up) and in this you might not be completely wide of the mark. However, as a consumer of medical services I am comforted to know that someone has verified that the surgeon eying my nether regions really does know the difference between an appendix and a penis.

If you motivation is sufficiently strong and you will buckle down and do what needs to be done. In no time at all you'll be making friends with the aforementioned Bentley and Porsche dealers.

ann m

Hitting nail on head.

Your UK qualification are simply "foreign" qualifications here and will be lumped together with all "foreign" doctors. Get your head around that and you are good to go. And what JonEBoy says is true - if you really want it here, you will just quietly do what is required, possibly huffing and muttering all the way through, but after the fact, you will "accept" it and even see the benefit of it. This is true of many, many professions and you are not alone.

I have it on good authority that equivalencies between UK GP's and Canadian GP's are being recognized now or it's in the works. There was a considerable disparity between the two and no direct reciprocity. (Quietly, that may be because the UK College of Physicians or whatever it is called didn't actually deem Canadian trained GP's to be equivalent to UK, so Canada wouldn't oblige either, bit of tit for tat!! Hopefully that is being addressed now).

Lemonfish

You speak with great confidence - 'hoary old myth #1'.

Interested to know how you could possibly know that its a myth?

You'd need to be able to do some kind of reliable analysis of taxi drivers previous professions in their countries of origin and their qualifications.

I doubt anyone has that type of information, not least because determining the sample frame of taxi drivers would be challenging.

Still, if you have links to any studies to prove it, would be very interested in seeing them.

snowshoveller

This is absolutely right - I asked a Dental profession regulator about this subject and this was pretty much his exact reply.

On a slightly different tack the variability of regulation between provinces causes some tension too

fledermaus

and another useful link

http://www.cehpea.ca/index.html

adele

Go straight to the horse's mouth and get your qualifications and experience assessed. They will then tell you what exams etc you need to take and the process to apply for licensure:

For Ontario: http://www.cpso.on.ca/registration/i...t.aspx?id=1792

For BC: https://www.cpsbc.ca/physicians-area/registration

For BC, Health Match is an excellent, free recruitment service: http://www.healthmatchbc.org/HMBC_va...asp?pageid=603

Good luck

snowshoveller

You could google "College of Physicians and Surgeon+the province of your choice" for the inside scoop on any locality.

Thinking out of the box, you might find Yukon or Northwest territories have more international friendly guidelines as its difficult to recruit. It would be very interesting for a while I would imagine. Having served your time you could return to the big city after a while.

Actually I know of a couple of folks who work in Northern Manitoba(beyond the reach of roads), they live in Winnipeg and spend 2 weeks on/2 weeks off. They get a real buzz out of the work up there.

dbd33

One of my daughters has just emigrated from Canada with a bloke who was working here for a couple of years. He's was here as a resident in "trauma neurology", or something of the sort; when people jump under subways and don't get properly squished he stitches their nerves back together. Seems like your sort of job. He seemed bemused when I said people on this board think coming as doctor is problematic, he thought it no problem if it's temporary position, more of a trouble for a permanent job but then he wondered why anyone would want a permanent job in a place as cold as this.

There are only two hospitals in the GTA where they have truama centres, one for odd numbered days, one for even, so you could easily contact the units directly to see what their needs for bloodied body patchers are over the coming months or years.

music121

As I have said before, if the rules haven't changed - and I doubt it - you will have to pass the Canadian final exams (some version with MCQs for migrants), just like USMLE, if you want to stay. And also get everything assessed by authorities. Even if you're British. It's also "humiliating" for people from the EU. (In case people wonder, medical training in other modern countries already involves knowing where the appendix is - and much more). Austr. does the same for potential migrants now. It does sound like severe protectionism... Anyway, good luck.

snoopdawg

Hi - We're GPs in BC- 18 months now. Love BC, BC healthcare interesting!! You'll find the hospitals outside out Vancouver and Kelowna are not quite in the 21st century!!Thats the frustrating bit, love the rest though.
If you want to find out about your prospects in BC, just phone /email Healthmatch BC, they are amazing and will help with immigration, they are a government scheme so all free.
You'll have to do exams- easy so far!! Even for me.
You should be ok, work wise I think, OH -not sure. ICUs seem to be managed by the Internists ( physicians to you) rather than Anaesthetists. Vancouver may be different but as an IMG, newly arrived , not sure you would be able to get jobs. And A&E is Emerg, cute name
Anyway, when you have 3 posts , feel free to PM me if you want more info, thats hard to put on a public forum!
Anyway, good luck and go for it- I wish we had years ago!