How many years does it take to become a family physician?

[Confused]

Hi,

I was told that in order to become a family physician it will take at least 9 yrs. That is, 4 yrs to complete your undergraduate degree, three more in med and two in residency. However, I've also recently been told that it would take 11 instead of 9. I would like to know how long exactly and if possible the break up of those years. Also, during the years in residency will I be able to select the different types of specialty to try before deciding exactly what area of medicine I will be in? Any info you can give will be much appreciated.

[cheech10]

The absolute minimum is 8 years:
3 years in undergrad (although it's more common to get in after 4 years)
3 years in medical school (only at McMaster, 4 everywhere else)
2 years in a family practice residency

[Ian Wong]

Calgary also has a three year program. Every Canadian med schoo other than Calgary and Mac are four years.

The "typical" time would be ten years.

4 years undergrad
4 years med school
2 years family practice residency

After you graduate med school and start your residency in a given specialty, it is very difficult to transfer out of that residency into another. As a result, if you start a family practice residency, you will find it extremely difficult to, for example, switch into a surgical specialty residency. So you are pretty much committed as soon as you pick a specialty.

However, in your three year of medical school, you have clinical rotations in many of the main specialties of medicine, so you can get your exposure at this time. ie. since the summer of Med 2 here at UBC, I've spent time working in rural family practice, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic Surgery, Emergency Medicine, General Surgery, Ear Nose and Throat Surgery, and Neurosurgery. By the end of Med 3, I will have also done rotations in Obstetrics, Gynecology, Anesthesia, Pediatrics, Pediatric Ear Nose and Throat Surgery, Psychiatry, and Internal Medicine.

Unfortunately, there are other specialties that we don't encounter at all in a specific block of time, such as Radiology, Pathology, or Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

But, chances are good that while in medical school you will get enough exposure to many fields of medicine that you should have at least some idea of which fields suit your personality, interests, and career goals.

Ian
UBC, Med 3

[YongQ]

It astounds me how much time we have to spend in school! Just to do the math for a typical family doc, starting from early childhood:
8 years elementary
5 years secondary
4 years undergrad
4 years undergrad medicine
2 years residency
----------------------------
That's <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> 23 frickin' years<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->! Like, just under a third of our lives, assuming an average lifespan of 80... not that's it's a bad thing of course.

[brandonite]

If you went into some sort of neurosurgical subspecialty, you could add another 5 years on that! 28 years! Wow.

[YongQ]

Let's do some more fun math... say (I know this is unlikely) you did a Master's before going to meds, then did an MD/PhD, then did a 5-year res on top of that. Hmm, and let's add a year of pre-school.
1 year pre-school
8 years elementary
5 years high school
4 years undergrad
3 years Master's
7 years MD/PhD
5 years residency
-----------------------------------------
A grand total of <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> 33 years<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> in school.
Eek, I'd be ready to retire after that.

[brandonite]

You'd be almost 40 by the time you could practice! The people you graduated high school with that didn't go to college would have spent 20 years working! Wow...

[Ian Wong]

One of the Neurosurgery residents here at UBC that I worked with in December did do his MD/PhD before starting out on his Neurosurgery residency. Also, many neurosurgeons will go on to do a fellowship afterwards as well eg. brain tumours, spine surgery, etc. :eek

Ian
UBC, Med 3

[Ian Wong]

I'm moving this to the CaRMS and Residencies forum.

Ian
UBC, Med 3