Dalhousie Postgraduate Medical Education

Admission to Dalhousie University Postgraduate Medicine PGY1 positions is conducted through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS). Candidates for these positions must therefore register with CaRMS annually before their deadline and follow the application procedures required by CaRMS. Please visit the CaRMS website at: http://carms.ca; or contact them by Email: carmsmail@carms.ca . CaRMS fax number is (613) 563-2860 and telephone 1(800) 291-3727 or (613) 237-0075.

The first iteration of the CaRMS match will include two parallel streams. You must be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada to apply to either stream. The definition of a Permanent Resident is a Canadian immigrant who has permanent resident status in Canada but is not yet a Canadian citizen.

One stream for Canadian Medical School graduates who have not had previous post-MD/clinical training;
The second stream will be open to International Medical Graduates who have not had previous Canadian post-MD/clinical training. There will be a selection of programs in both Family Medicine and Specialty training that will be made available. All international medical graduates matching to these designated positions will be required to sign a Return of Service contract with the Ministry of Health for either the Province of Nova Scotia, the Province of New Brunswick, or the Province of Prince Edward Island in the specialty (including Family Medicine) to which they have been matched prior to beginning their residency.

There will be one position for International Medical Graduates in each Family Medicine training sites (Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia; Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton, New Brunswick; and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island). One of these residency positions will have a return of service commitment to New Brunswick, one will have a return of service commitment to Prince Edward Island, and the remainder will have return of service commitments to Nova Scotia. There will be five residency positions for International Medical Graduates in Royal College specialty training programs. These change annually. Please visit the CaRMS web site for up-to-date information.

All unfilled positions will be committed to the second iteration of the CaRMS match and will be open to all candidates including graduates of Canadian medical schools and international medical graduates who fulfil the eligibility criteria. Those applicants in the second iteration who are matched to unfilled first iteration International Medical Graduate positions will be required to sign a Return of Service contract with the Ministry of Health for either the Province of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, or Prince Edward Island in the specialty (including Family Medicine) to which they have been matched.

Requirements for International Medical Graduates:

The following 5 requirements for International Medical Graduates must be provided in order to be considered for residency training at Dalhousie University:

It should be noted that International Medical Graduates who have previous post-graduate training in either Canada or the United States, that is creditable for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the College of Family Physicians of Canada certification, are not eligible to participate in CaRMS in the first iteration for Dalhousie University positions.

1. Legal Status
IMGs must be a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident at the time of application. When applying you must submit one fo the following verifications:

Notarized/certified photocopy of Birth Certificate issued by an authority in Canada with any photo identification; or
Notarized/certified photocopy of Canadian Passport; or
Notarized/certified photocopy of Canadian citizenship certificate, Record of Landing; or
Notarized/certified photocopy of Permanent Resident Card/Canadian Citizen Card.

2. Proof of MD Degree
IMGs must be a graduate of an acceptable medical school on the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) list.

A notarized/certified copy of medical school marks/transcripts and medical degree/diploma must be submitted. Documents that are not in English must be accompanied by a notarized translation.

3. Language
Because English is the language of study at Dalhousie, all applicants whose first language is not English must provide proof of proficiency. You must have achieved the required proficiency in one of the following English language tests:

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
We require a minimum TOEFL score of 600 for paper based, 250 for computer based, or 100 for internet based (IBT); or,
International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
We require a band score of 7.

Scores that are less than those stated above will not be considered.

Exemptions to the English language tests will be made only if the language of instruction throughout the entire undergraduate medical education curriculum was in English. A letter of attestation of this from the Dean of the Medical School must be provided with the application.

4. Medical Council of Canada
A current pass in the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Exam (MCCEE) is required, and if applicants provide proof of performance on the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Exams (MCCQE) (parts 1 and 2) or the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USLME) Parts 1, 2 and 3 this will also be considered. For further information regarding Medical Council of Canada examinations you may contact:

Medical Council of Canada
2283, boul St. Laurent Blvd.
Ottawa, ON
K1G 5A2
Phone: (613) 521-6012
Website: www.mcc.ca
Applications for the MCCEE and the MCCQE (part 1) are available from most Canadian Employment and Immigration Commissions outside of Canada. To be eligible to take the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part 1, your medical school must be listed in the World Health Organization Directory of Medical Schools.

5. Provincial Licensure Requirements
All applicants must be eligible to register for an educational license with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. A requirement for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia is that international medical graduates must include proof, as part of the completed license application, that verification through the PCRC has been initiated.

Other criteria
Preference will be given to international medical graduates who are living in the Atlantic Provinces working in an area of health care.

Preference will be given to international medical graduates who have the Clinical Assessment for Practice Program (CAPP) or equivalent. You can find information regarding CAPP at the following site: http://www.capprogram.ca/

Return of Service

In the CaRMS process, a number of residency positions will require Return of Service (RoS) commitments. In the first round of the CaRMS process, these positions will be available to International Medical Graduates (IMGs) only. However, in the second round of the CaRMS process, both IMGs and Canadian Medical Graduates (CMGs) will be eligible to apply for these positions. Those individuals (IMG or CMG) who are matched through CaRMS to residency positions associated with Return of Service (RoS) commitments will be required to sign a contract for RoS to a specific Maritime province. The basic conditions of the RoS contract that will be employed have been developed jointly by the four Atlantic Provinces and will incorporate a length of return service equal to the number of years the physician spent in his/her residency training program.

If a resident does not meet the terms of the return of service agreement, repayment will be required, subject to the conditions specific to each province.

The positions allocated to the IMG stream and the Department of Health they will have a RoS with is updated annually and advertised on the CaRMS web site.

Should you wish to receive a contract template for a specific province, or to discuss terms and conditions of the Return for Service in each of the jurisdictions, the provincial contacts are as follows:

Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness: Joanne MacKinnon: joanne.mackinnon@gov.ns.ca
New Brunswick Department of Health: Lyne St. Pierre-Ellis: lyne.st-pierre-ellis@gnb.ca
Prince Edward Island Department of Health: Treena Bellamy: tibellamy@ihis.org

There are strict guidelines which do not permit us to award a training position to an international medical graduate unless we are unable to find a qualified Canadian citizen or landed immigrant of Canada for the job. An exception may sometimes occur when his/her own government or similar agency is funding a foreign graduate.

Sponsorship must be from a government or a healthcare institution. Private, family or business funding is not an option. The Postgraduate Medical Education office requires the government/healthcare institution (sponsor) to guarantee their financial support for the entire length of training and on completion of training the trainee return to their country. The government or healthcare institution would have to indicate to this Office that they are willing to sponsor the trainee with a “return for service contract”. We would require a signed copy of this contract as well as their agreement to pay an appropriate salary and benefits, administrative fees and additional annual costs.

Medical graduate not from a Canadian or US medical school must have passed the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination (MCCEE). For information regarding the examinations, write to the Medical Council of Canada , 1867 Alta Vista Drive, Box 8234, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K1G 3H7, telephone (613) 521-6012, website: www.mcc.ca. To be eligible to take the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part 1, the medical school must be listed in the World Health Organization Directory of Medical Schools and they must have successfully completed the Evaluating Examination of the MCC during the last five years.

For a successful candidate there is a very lengthy immigration process for a work permit which may or may not be approved by the Department of Health and Wellness in Nova Scotia and Human Resources, Canada.

Details regarding requirements can be requested by contacting: visaimgdesk@dal.ca