Somewhat specific question but hoping to get some thoughts on the situation.
I'm a MS4 at a med school here in the US I'm planning on applying to a surg specialty for residency. I'm taking a research year currently but will be submitting an ERAS (+/- Carms) app in 2024. I decided to do med school here in the US as I'd been living here for awhile (undergrad in US) and thought it made the most sense to continue my med ed here state side to make the most out of it. I made the mistake of choosing prestige over the practical path toward my end goals and it's coming back to bite me.
In retrospect, I should've applied to med schools in Canada, just to give me the option of going back, but here we are. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed my medical education for the most part in the US (and I apologize if I come off as an ungrateful jerk), but I've come to realize that I don't see myself practicing in the US medical system long term.
The issue is, the job markets for my specialty here vs. Canada couldn't be more different. The job market for my specialty in the US is far stronger than it is in Canada (many Canadian residents / fellows end up having to move to the US to avoid having to get a masters/PhD, multiple fellowships in the field just to get a job). If it were even somewhat close, I wouldn't mind taking the risk and just heading back home, but the differences in job outcomes are so stark it would be stupid not to consider them.
I'm really struggling with what I should do. If I complete my training here in the US (which I don't necessarily mind doing, although I would slightly prefer to do it back home), I feel like I've lost out on the implicit/explicit networking that takes place and is essential for landing a job back home in Canada. If I were to go back home to train in Canada, I could very likely be in a position where I wouldn't be able to land a full-time job (not necessarily even in the province I'm training in, but in the country as a whole) without going down the MSc/PhD or multiple fellowship path). Also, many of the US-based positions that Canadian residents end up landing tend to be somewhat less desirable than what would be attainable if I were to train at a middle of the road program here in the US. I don't really have anyone to turn to since I haven't ever really heard of any Canadian moving back to the US after completing residency training here. Practically, the path is clear from the Royal College and there aren't too many hurdles to getting certified in Canada after a US residency. But, given how tight the job market is back home, I'm not sure if I'd even be able to land a job interview as someone who trained out of the country.
I plan on applying to both match processes, but the issue is the fact that they are linked. Usually (pre-COVID), Canadian match (Carms) was always before NRMP match, and they are linked. If you match in one process, you are automatically pulled out of the other, without ever seeing / knowing the outcome of that second process, and its based on match timing (i.e. which one comes first takes precedence). This would have been fine for me since I could apply to both, rank my top Canadian choices that I would take above any US position, and then see what happened. For the last two years, the timing has switched, and now Carms match comes after NRMP match week, meaning that I would have to completely forego my NRMP match just to see if I'm able to even to land a spot in Canada (and potentially risk it all and not match in Canada?)
Should I just apply for both and see what happens throughout the interview process in both countries and make a decision from there? Resign myself to having to complete training here in the US unless I'm fine taking a second gap year if I don't match in Canada the first time around? A compromise I've been thinking of is doing residency here in the US, completing fellowship in Canada, and then hopefully taking that route to returning home?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! On the off chance there are any Canadian surgeons that returned home after training here in the US, would love to know what that looked like!
I'm a MS4 at a med school here in the US I'm planning on applying to a surg specialty for residency. I'm taking a research year currently but will be submitting an ERAS (+/- Carms) app in 2024. I decided to do med school here in the US as I'd been living here for awhile (undergrad in US) and thought it made the most sense to continue my med ed here state side to make the most out of it. I made the mistake of choosing prestige over the practical path toward my end goals and it's coming back to bite me.
In retrospect, I should've applied to med schools in Canada, just to give me the option of going back, but here we are. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed my medical education for the most part in the US (and I apologize if I come off as an ungrateful jerk), but I've come to realize that I don't see myself practicing in the US medical system long term.
The issue is, the job markets for my specialty here vs. Canada couldn't be more different. The job market for my specialty in the US is far stronger than it is in Canada (many Canadian residents / fellows end up having to move to the US to avoid having to get a masters/PhD, multiple fellowships in the field just to get a job). If it were even somewhat close, I wouldn't mind taking the risk and just heading back home, but the differences in job outcomes are so stark it would be stupid not to consider them.
I'm really struggling with what I should do. If I complete my training here in the US (which I don't necessarily mind doing, although I would slightly prefer to do it back home), I feel like I've lost out on the implicit/explicit networking that takes place and is essential for landing a job back home in Canada. If I were to go back home to train in Canada, I could very likely be in a position where I wouldn't be able to land a full-time job (not necessarily even in the province I'm training in, but in the country as a whole) without going down the MSc/PhD or multiple fellowship path). Also, many of the US-based positions that Canadian residents end up landing tend to be somewhat less desirable than what would be attainable if I were to train at a middle of the road program here in the US. I don't really have anyone to turn to since I haven't ever really heard of any Canadian moving back to the US after completing residency training here. Practically, the path is clear from the Royal College and there aren't too many hurdles to getting certified in Canada after a US residency. But, given how tight the job market is back home, I'm not sure if I'd even be able to land a job interview as someone who trained out of the country.
I plan on applying to both match processes, but the issue is the fact that they are linked. Usually (pre-COVID), Canadian match (Carms) was always before NRMP match, and they are linked. If you match in one process, you are automatically pulled out of the other, without ever seeing / knowing the outcome of that second process, and its based on match timing (i.e. which one comes first takes precedence). This would have been fine for me since I could apply to both, rank my top Canadian choices that I would take above any US position, and then see what happened. For the last two years, the timing has switched, and now Carms match comes after NRMP match week, meaning that I would have to completely forego my NRMP match just to see if I'm able to even to land a spot in Canada (and potentially risk it all and not match in Canada?)
Should I just apply for both and see what happens throughout the interview process in both countries and make a decision from there? Resign myself to having to complete training here in the US unless I'm fine taking a second gap year if I don't match in Canada the first time around? A compromise I've been thinking of is doing residency here in the US, completing fellowship in Canada, and then hopefully taking that route to returning home?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! On the off chance there are any Canadian surgeons that returned home after training here in the US, would love to know what that looked like!