Family medicine vs specialities

[Dany]

I heard that a family med residency is about 2 yrs, and a speciality if around 4, and maybe extending to 6.

So, do specialised residents (in, say, internal med) get the same formation of the family med residents in their first two yrs of residency? Otherwise stated, can all the specialised docs (at least) practise family med? I mean in Canada or USA.

I've already done one yr in med school, though it seems that no one ever talks about it.

Thanks very much for the replies...

[blinknoodle]

I have deleted your duplicate threads.

In some provinces you can qualify for a generalist-type license for you to moonlight (Manitoba comes to mind, I am sure there are others).

[gerd]

Depends on the province and the specialty.
For example, you can get a GP license through the anesthesia residency in BC, but not in other provinces. You used to be able to do it in psychiatry, but not anymore. You will definitely not get a GP license if you do specialties like IM and peds, since you won't have a rotating first year.
However, having said that, even without a GP license, you can still moonlight, say in the icu.

[Dany]

What does "moonlight" mean?
Sorry that I am only a junior med student...
Thanks

[coastalslacker]

Moonlighting is working someplace else before you've finished your residency training. Generally you have to have completed your LMCC step II, and often all of 2nd year. For example, you might go to smaller peripheral hospital and pick up a couple emerg shifts, or go work in an ICU. This is not part of your residency training and you must do it on your own time. Whether or not you can moonlight varies by province and what specialty you're in.

But, I don't know if moonlighting has much to do with your original question. In the past, everyone was qualified to practise as a family physician because everyone had a common first year of residency. This is no longer the case, a surgical vs an IM vs a family medicine first year will all be very different. To my knowledge, residencies completed in BC still get their family medicine license, however, this may involve an extra year of residency (not sure on this). So, if you become an OB/GYN resident in Ontario, you can't set-up a family medicine clinic on the side to pay the bills during residency. If you wanted to change to family medicine in 20 years, you would have to re-do your residency.

The CaRMS website has information on every residency program in Canada so I'm not going to list how long various specialties take.

[dhanarajesh1]

Family health really helps for the public

[ploughboy]

Originally Posted by dhanarajesh1

Family health really helps for the public

The one-legged parakeet flies at midnight.

[JewelLeigh]

Originally Posted by ploughboy

The one-legged parakeet flies at midnight.

LOL!!!
....