Moving from the US to Canada as a Physician: What Dr. Sarah Mauthe Learned Licensing, Job Hunting, and Starting Over
If you've ever sat at your desk after a brutal shift, stared at a stack of documentation you'll never actually use for patient care, and quietly wondered, "Could I be happy practicing medicine somewhere else?" — you're not alone. That question has crossed the minds of more American physicians than you'd think, and on this episode of The Interesting MD Podcast, I wrapped up my three-part conversation with Dr. Sarah Mauthe about exactly what happens when you stop wondering and actually make the move from the US to Canada.
This final installment covers the nuts and bolts: licensing, the job search, and what life actually looks like once you land. If you're a physician or nurse even casually entertaining the idea of relocating north, this one's for you.
Navigating the Canadian Licensing Process (It's Confusing, But Doable)
Dr. Mauthe didn't sugarcoat it — the Canadian licensing process is, in her words, "relatively convoluted." Unlike the US where you're dealing with a single state medical board, Canada layers provincial licensing on top of national credentialing bodies, and the terminology alone can be overwhelming. Family medicine, for example, falls under a different regulatory body than the Royal College, and there are more acronyms than you'll know what to do with.
The starting point for most US physicians is Physicians Apply (physiciansapply.ca), which acts as a clearing house to verify your credentials — board certifications, med school diplomas, and letters of good standing from every state where you've ever held a license. The good news? A lot of this talks directly to the FCVS (Federation Credentials Verification Service) in the US, so verifying something like your board certification is often as simple as a database check.
The catch is timing. Letters of good standing can expire before you finish the rest of the process, meaning you might have to request them again — usually for a small fee, sometimes free. Dr. Mauthe started her paperwork early, while still living in Reno, which she credits for making the rest of the process more manageable. Even so, from start to finish, she estimated it took close to a year — though she admits she wasn't in any particular rush.
For physicians heading to British Columbia specifically, Health Match BC was a standout resource. Dr. Mauthe described the organization as taking her by the hand through each step, and I can personally vouch for this — I've seen physicians get licensed in BC in as little as 10 days once they're organized and have their documentation ready. Other provinces are catching up too. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), Manitoba, and Nova Scotia have all been stepping up their processes to make relocation smoother.
Finding the Right Job and the Right Fit
Licensing is one thing. Finding a job that actually fits your life is another. For Dr. Mauthe, location and quality of life took priority over the specifics of any one position — partly because, within a given health authority in BC, many jobs share similar structures and resources since they fall under the same umbrella organization.
Her unexpected research tool? Facebook. She joined groups for hospitalist physicians in BC, specifically Island Health, and used them to ask real-world questions about day-to-day work life before ever committing to a location. That groundwork helped her narrow down an entire country to a single island — something she admitted was genuinely hard to do when every province is an option.
Her advice for anyone starting this process: don't underestimate informal networks. Talking to people who are already living the life you're considering will tell you more than any job posting ever could.
What Actually Changes When You Practice Medicine in Canada
This is where the conversation got real. Dr. Mauthe didn't anticipate how much her day-to-day mindset would shift once she left the US healthcare system behind.
She talked about documentation — in the US, as she put it, "half your note is for billing purposes." Changing urosepsis to "sepsis from a urinary source" because of reimbursement codes, fighting for peer-to-peer approvals, justifying a CT scan to an insurance company — all of that disappeared. In Canada, documentation exists to communicate with other physicians, not to justify billing to an insurance company. That shift, she said, fundamentally changes how you function as a physician.
She also noticed a difference in how specialists responded to calls. In the US, she'd mentally prepare herself for pushback before picking up the phone. In Canada, that tension largely isn't there — not because Canadian physicians are different people, but because the system isn't pitting doctors against insurers and each other over resource approval.
We also touched on something that doesn't get talked about enough: patients in the US making medical decisions based on finances rather than need — rushing a surgery in before their deductible resets in January, for example, or being unable to afford a $300 CT co-pay for a scan that costs $300 out of pocket entirely. Dr. Mauthe pointed out that she hasn't had a single patient in Canada ask her about the cost of their care. That's not something either of us expected to feel so profoundly different, but it does.
Life Outside of Work: Slower, Less Consumeristic, More Present
Beyond the clinical side, Dr. Mauthe described a broader lifestyle shift — less consumerism, more time spent outdoors, and an overall sense that people aren't in a constant rush. She mentioned something simple but telling: she has energy at the end of the day now. In the US, she'd come home and need to be left alone. In Canada, she's going out for dinner or taking the dogs to the beach.
She also raised something practical for anyone considering the move: the exchange rate between the US and Canadian dollar can significantly stretch your savings, making relocation more financially accessible than people often assume.
The Bottom Line
If the idea of practicing medicine somewhere else has already crossed your mind, Dr. Mauthe's advice is blunt: you're probably already behind where you'd like to be. The real question isn't whether you'd be happy elsewhere — it's what you have to lose versus what you stand to gain.
If you're a physician or healthcare professional thinking seriously about relocating from the US to Canada, don't go it alone. Reach out, ask questions, and lean on people who've already made the move. You can always email me directly at rob@interestingmd.com — I'm happy to point you in the right direction.
Thanks for tuning in to this series with Dr. Sarah Mauthe. If you found this helpful, share it with a colleague who might need to hear it, and I'll see you next week on The Interesting MD Podcast.