How to become a doctor in Canada

Medical education in Canada is one of the most popular both in the country and abroad. In Canada, medical education is a graduated process, composed of two main stages. The first stage involves successful completion of a Medical Doctor (MD) program. MD programs are usually 3-4 years in length and build on the student’s basic life science knowledge while introducing new clinical skills.

Having completed an MD degree program, physicians move on to postgraduate medical education, or “residency training”. Residency training is the final stage of medical education, prior to college certification and practice as a fully-licensed physician. But to become a certified specialist, you need to spend a lot of resources, both financial and mental. 

What you need to know before entering the medical faculty in Canada

Here are the things you need to know before choosing to study for medicine in Canada.

1. University in Canada does not accept foreign students for medical specialties at all. To be able to study as a doctor, you need a passport of a Canadian citizen.
2. Medical education abroad is a rather complex and lengthy process, and, most often, an expensive path. It should be taken into account that you need to study for a doctor for seven to eight years plus 2 to 7 years of internship.
3. Compared to other courses, the cost of medical education in Canada is quite high. You must decide whether you are ready to cover all the costs of training and accommodation for the entire period of training. It is usually simply impossible to earn extra money while studying for a doctor because of the high workload during training.
4. You should be ready for continuous brain activity for at least 10-12 hours a day. And you also need to make sure that the GPA level is high enough, as this affects your transition between courses and getting a job in general.
5. You will not be able to enter the medical faculty in Canada after graduating from a foreign school, following the example of admission to a medical university in your home country. Next, we will analyze how the process of studying for a doctor in Canada takes place.
6. Many people know that doctors abroad receive 15, 30, and even 50 thousand dollars a month. But few people know that the average working schedule of a doctor is working 100 hours a week.

In contrast to all these difficulties, the medical profession is one of the most prestigious and highly paid in the West. With a diploma from a foreign university, you will not have any problems with finding employment abroad. Therefore, you need to weigh all the pros and cons before choosing this career path.

Deadlines and documents

You need to start preparing for admission from the 8th grade. For foreign universities, school grades and the level of language knowledge are important. There should be good preparation in Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and, sometimes, Physics. It is better to submit documents 1 year before graduation from school, that is, you need to pass language proficiency tests at the end of 10 or the beginning of 11 classes. List of required documents for admission to universities in Canada:

1. Extract of grades from the school for the last three years of study (grades 8, 9, and 10).
2. IELTS or TOEFL test result.
3. Other additional requirements (depending on the course and training program).

How to become a doctor in Canada

Obtaining a doctor’s license in Canada is not the fastest process. Even Canadians who want to become a doctor sometimes go to study in Australia or the USA. And upon arrival, they receive the necessary licenses to work. Here is the path to medical practice in canada.

1. Bachelor’s degree (Bachelor of Science) at a college or university in Canada

First, you need to get a Bachelor’s degree (Bachelor of Science) at a college or university in Canada. A diploma or advanced diploma is not suitable for further enrollment. As a rule, medical schools have a list of necessary courses, mainly in natural sciences, that you must take on a bachelor’s program. When applying for a bachelor’s degree, you need to look very carefully at many subjects studied, they should be calculated by the hour and filled with topics in such a way that the number of academic hours of training, knowledge, and skills meets the entrance requirements of a medical school.

Since there is no exact wording in which course you need to get a bachelor’s degree, theoretically you can study in any program, but the most suitable option will be biological sciences: Life or Health Sciences, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology, and so on. After receiving a bachelor’s degree, you will have a work search permit for 3 years, during which you will need to obtain a Canadian passport.

2. Enroll in a medical school

Next, the student needs to enroll in a medical school. Usually, medical schools are located at the largest universities in Canada and enrollment is on a competitive basis. 5-10 places are usually allocated for international students. The competition can be 250-400 people per place. It evaluates both the overall academic performance at the university, as well as recommendations from teachers, and other achievements in the professional field. Tuition is paid, the allocation of scholarships is usually not provided.

3. Complete a residency (extended internship)

After studying at a medical school (where the training lasts 3-4 years), the student needs to complete a residency (extended internship). During their studies at the Medical School, students study theoretical subjects for the first two years: medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology. For the next two years, students work in various clinical departments with patients, which is already a kind of practice.

In the fourth year of study, students prepare to take the difficult MCCEE (Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination) exam to obtain a doctor’s license, and they can also take an optional course in a narrow specialization. After successfully passing the test, the graduate receives an MD (Medical Doctor) degree, but a doctor’s diploma does not yet give him the right to work independently. After obtaining an MD diploma, practical training in a residency in a narrow course is mandatory. 

After being accepted to the program, you will begin the first year of study, which is also called an internship. Admission to the Canadian internship is carried out centrally through the CARMs (Canadian Resident Matching Service), which distributes graduates of Canadian medical schools to various internships throughout the country. The internship lasts for one year, but the residency can last from three to seven years, depending on the chosen course. For example, pediatrics is three years, neurosurgery is seven years, and many other courses are somewhere in the middle.

4. Obtain the status of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident status

To conduct medical practice in Canada, a student must obtain the status of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident status, as well as pass certain exams to obtain a license to conduct medical practice. At the end of the residency, you will take exams according to the completed program, where you will receive a certificate for practical training in your chosen field. 

The first 1-2 years, as a rule, are the period of medical training of a doctor (the so-called Fellowship), when he/she works as a consultant under the guidance of a senior doctor. At this time, a young doctor is gaining experience and can undergo additional training in the chosen narrow specialization. It turns out that the total period of obtaining medical education is 9-15 years, during which the student must show high results and excellent knowledge of subjects.