10 year moratorium.

yesterday the UQMS (UQ medical society) held an international students seminar/info night. with the increasing number of international students (mostly from canadia) they were kind enough to have some upper years and representatives from the school come and talk to us.

i found it really useful - yet slightly frustrating.
some upper years who recently wrote the USMLEs talked to us about the steps involved in arranging for the exam - which some would argue is a challenge in itself! we also got a timeline for writing the MCCEE (canadian boards) and perhaps even staying here in australia.

the frustrating part is that are there no hard & concrete answers. even the reps from the school of medicine couldn't give us straight answers. everything is fuzzy and all the information/rules are constantly changing. but from my glass-is-half-full perspective, this is what i got from the lecture. there are no guarantees with regards to internship/residency spots in australia, canada or the US. however like the adidas slogan, nothing is impossible. it may not be easy but NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.

i can work with "not easy". heck, getting into med wasn't easy. and from what i've done so far, med school isn't easy. why should getting a job be. right?

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i've made up my mind. i'm writing the USMLEs this winter.

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when i first came to australia, i had full intentions of returning to canada. however, i was also open to the idea that if i really liked brisbane/australia, or opportunities unavailable in canada came up, or whatever, i would consider perhaps even staying in australia. but after friday's seminar this doesn't seem like such a great option. in australia, there is something called a "10-year moratorium" for people like me. people with a medical degree from australia (or hopefully will have one in 2010) but don't have PR status. this means that in exchange for a internship spot, they can control (to a degree) where you work for the next TEN years! in a nutshell, for 10 years after either obtaining my PR status or becoming a fully licensed physician (whatever comes last), i will be forced to work in an under-serviced region/placement. this general concept is not unusual per se. most places enforce a "return-of-service" or a "moratorium" on international graduates/non-citizens. this is done in an attempt to offset the huge demand for doctors in rural areas. what's unusual or RIDICULOUS is the length. for example, i believe the return-of-service scheme in ontario is only 4 or 5 years or so.

TEN years? i'll be in my mid-30s by that point! gosh that sounds old!!!