Canadian and immigrant international medical graduates.

OBJECTIVE To compare the demographic and educational characteristics of Canadian international medical graduates (IMGs) and immigrant IMGs who applied to the second iteration of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) match in 2002.

DESIGN Web-based questionnaire survey.

SETTING The study was conducted during the second-iteration CaRMS match in Canada.

PARTICIPANTS The sampling frame included the entire population of IMG registrants for the 2002 CaRMS match in Canada who expressed interest in applying for a ministry-funded residency position in the 13 English-speaking Canadian medical schools. Those who immigrated to Canada with medical degrees were categorized as immigrant IMGs. Canadian citizens and landed immigrants or permanent residents who left Canada to obtain a medical degree in another country were defined as Canadian IMGs.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Demographic characteristics, education and training outside Canada, examinations taken, previous applications for a residency position, preferred type of practice, and barriers and supports were compared.

RESULTS Out of 446 respondents who indicated their immigration status and education, 396 (88.8%) were immigrant IMGs and 50 (11.2%) were Canadian IMGs. Immigrant IMGs tended to be older, be married, and have dependent children. Immigrant IMGs most frequently obtained their medical education in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, or Africa, whereas Canadian IMGs most frequently obtained their medical degrees in Asia, the Caribbean, or Europe. Immigrant IMGs tended to have more years of postgraduate training and clinical experience. A significantly greater proportion of immigrant IMGs had perceived that there were insufficient opportunities for assessment, financial barriers to training, and licensing barriers to practice. Nearly half (45.5%) of all IMGs selected family medicine as their first choice of clinical discipline to practise in Canada. There were no significant differences between Canadian and immigrant IMGs in terms of first choice of clinical discipline (family medicine vs specialty). There were no significant differences between the groups in the number of times they applied to CaRMS in the past, but a relatively greater proportion of Canadian IMGs obtained residency positions.

CONCLUSION There are notable similarities and some significant differences between Canadian and immigrant IMGs seeking to practise medicine in Canada.