Working As a Doctor in Canada

Hey guys!
If any one want to work in Canada as a doctor then he/she must go through their exam its called MCCEE the details of the exam are following (The following is an abstract of a doctor who has been through the process and its his personal experience):
All the exams are administered by the medical council of Canada
www.mcc.ca

1) MCCEE: This is the basic and 1st step. It covers Medicine, surgery, gynae/obs, pa eds, psychiatry, pharmacology (don't worry about it, only major drug uses adverse effects are asked and there are hardly one or two quests), ethics, public health and a few questions from basic sciences.

MCCEE is administered six times a year through pro metric in major cities of the world. This exam is quite different from USMLE step 2 in terms of question format, though you can do UW MCQs to polish your concepts.
The book recommended for it is TORONTO NOTES. Yo have to do it cover to cover.
Usual recommended preparation time is 3months. I gave two reads to Toronto Notes before the exam and did UW MCQs just to understand. Remember they are not that helpful for MCCEE, they are rather helpful for MCCQE1. You can also do past questions available on www.rxpgonline.com and Canada Qbank.
Some people don't use toronto notes and prepare from Kaplan plus UW.You can pass with it but to get a good score Toronto Notes is a must.

After passing MCCEE, you can apply for residency through CARMS(www.carms.ca

As the competition is much more tougher in canada, so it's recommended to pass MCCQE1 and also a step 2CS type exam from your provincial body.

2) MCCQE1 is taken after passing MCCEE, it also covers almost the same subjects as MCCEE but the exam is like USMLE step2 plus a portion of clinical reasoning (considered to be tougher than USMLE step2). Again you can choose to study Toronto Notes or opt for the kaplan plus UW pathway which is very useful for this exam rather than the MCCEE. Many people give MCCQe1 and USMLE step 2 together, keeing a gap of not more than 1week in between them.
If you have any queries please share on this forum

Plab for Non EU IMG

Dear all !
I have been searching on net regarding PLAB 1 & 2. Recently there have been some changes in the UK immigration rules, that has made it is very difficult for the International Doctors to go UK for work. All those who have any kind of information please share it here, I have gathered a lot of information about PLAB 1 & 2. Post PLAB issues and visa problems etc. i will share all the stuff  here.
Here is a short summary about PLAB Test

PLAB Test
The test has two parts:

-Part 1 is a written paper-pencil exam based on Extended Matching Question (EMQ) system not very different from the MCQ system. There is no scoring system. You may either pass or fail the test.

-Part 2 is an assessment of clinical skills of an individual called Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). One can only appear in part 2, when he/she has passed part 1. There is no scoring system. You may either pass or fail the test.

Eligibility Requirements for PLAB Part 1
There are two requirements for appearing in part 1:

-A person must be a medical graduate, in possession of a basic medical degree like MBBS or equivalent. Medical students are not eligible to take PLAB.
-One must have passed the IELTS test with the required score set by GMC. (See below)
-Though not a requirement to appear in part 1, a candidate should have at least 12 months of postgraduate clinical experience (like one year of house job) in a teaching hospital in his/her country to work as an SHO in UK. Otherwise the person after passing both parts of PLAB must first obtain this 12 months experience in UK, and finding a house job in UK is indeed very difficult. Therefore you are strongly advised to complete your one-year house job before appearing in part 2.

Eligibility Requirements for PLAB Part 2
Passing part 1 is the only requirement for appearing in part 2. One must take part 2 within 2 years of passing part 1, otherwise he/she will have to take part 1 again.

IELTS
International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test is a test of English language conducted by the British Council all over the world. You can apply for the test and appear in the test in your local British Council office. The fee for the test is approximately Rs. 5000. The test has 4 parts or bands, listening, reading, writing and speaking. Each band has a maximum score of 9. There is also an overall band score (maximum 9), which is the average of the 4 individual band scores.
To be eligible to appear in PLAB part 1 one must achieve a minimum overall band score of 7 and a minimum of 7 in speaking band and minimum of 6 in listening, reading and writing bands.
For more information on IELTS contact your local British Council or visit www.ielts.org

Fee for the PLAB
The fees for part 1 and part 2 is 145 and 430 British pounds respectively.

Test Centers for PLAB
Part 1 of PLAB is held in countries outside UK as well. These include Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Srilanka and Egypt. In Pakistan part 1 is held in Islamabad and Karachi.
Part 2 can be taken only in UK.

Test Dates
Part 1 is held in Pakistan 3 times each year usually in the months of April, July and November. For other countries please refer to official site.
Part 2 is held more often.


Format of PLAB Part 1
PLAB part 1 is a one-day, paper-pencil exam. Correct answers are marked on an answer sheet with a pencil, which is later checked by a computer. Format of the test is called Extended Matching Questions (EMQ). PLAB Part 1 consists of 200 EMQs. Usually 4 EMQs are grouped under a certain topic like for example, the joint pain. Each EMQ describes a certain clinical situation in the form of a short patient history and clinical findings. Than for the group of 4 EMQs there are given upto 20 (A to T) possible answers. Each EMQ has only one correct answer from the list of 20, which you have to mark on the answer sheet.

Examination Content of PLAB Part 1
Part 1 of PLAB is a purely clinical exam covering all the major clinical specialties including:
-Medicine
-Surgery and Orthopedics
-Obstetrics and Gynecology
-Pediatrics
-Psychiatry
-Ophthalmology
-Otolaryngology
-Accident and Emergency Medicine

Basic Sciences are not tested in PLAB.

Format of PLAB Part 2 "OSCE"
Part 2 assess the clinical skills. There are 14 booths or "stations" and in each station you have to perform a particular task. You have to complete each station in 5 minutes. Some stations have patients where you have to take a short history or perform a certain examination according to the instructions. In other stations you might be required to carry out certain procedure like venepuncture, per-rectal examination or others on dummies.

Examination Content of Part 2 OSCE
Examination content is the same as for part 1. In addition you have to sharpen your clinical skills of history taking, physical examination and carrying out routine diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. This is yet another reason why part 2 should be taken after house job.

Recommended Books for PLAB Part 1

Medicine: Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine by Christopher Haslett (Editor), Edwin Chilvers (Editor), Nicholas Boon (Editor), Nicki Colledge (Editor), John Hunter (Editor)
OR
Clinical Medicine: A Textbook for Medical Students and Doctors by Parveen Kumar, Michael Clark

Surgery: Pocket Diagnosis in General Surgery: A Companion to Lecture Notes on General Surgery by Harold Ellis, Christopher J. E. Watson
Orthopedics: Orthopedics portion of Bailey & Love's Short Practice of Surgery by R. C. G. Russell et al
Gynaecology: Gynaecology by Ten Teachers by Stuart Campbell , Ash Monga
Obstetrics: Obstetrics by Ten Teachers by Geoffrey Chamberlain
Pediatrics: Blueprints in Pediatrics -- by Bradley S., Md. Marino, et al
Psychiatry, Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology: Oxford Handbook of Clinical Specialties (Oxford Medical Publications) by J.A.B. Collier, et al
Other Books:
The complete set of "Underground Clinical Vignettes Set of 8 (Internal Medicine Vol. 1, Internal Medicine Vol. 2, Surgery, Ob/Gyn, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Neurology, Emergency Medicine" by Vikas Bhushan, et al (small books with approximately 50 clinical cases in each book).
Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine by Murray Longmore, et al (for quick revision just before the test).
250 Short Cases in Clinical Medicine by Ragavendra R. Baliga


Recommended Books for PLAB Part 2
In addition to the books above you should practice more to examining the patients, take their medical histories and perform common diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in your hospital. Also read the following books:
Hutchinson's Clinical Methods