Thursday, September 29, 2005

This Week's Pic.


Downtown Montréal from the south shore.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Frank,
I was happy to find your blog because I am an Iranian-American medical student currently living in Washington DC who was considering doing his residency in Montreal, possibly leading to practicing medicine in Montreal. I have been looking online, trying to find an American expatriate voice in Montreal. A couple questions for you. Do you think if I were to practice medicine in Montreal it would be necessary to speak French? I understand that it's bilingual, but do you think there would be some bias towards seeing a doctor who could only speak English? Also, have you had any experience with the healthcare system there yet? If so, what were your impressions of it. Any input you can offer me is appreciated. Thanks!

ymoghimi@gwu.edu

Unknown said...

Glad that you find it useful.

Regarding the language issue, I have been planning to post about it for some time since the bilingual environment is THE biggest difference from most other places. I had been procrastinating so that I could be sure to collect my thoughts on the matter, but I shouldn't put it off any further. The next few posts will cover that subject.

To quickly answer your questions, I am sure you could find places on the west island where you would not need to speak any French. But French is a major part of society here. Downtown almost everyone has a working knowledge of English. The best idea would be to contact the residency programs to learn what they think.

Regarding healthcare, I like the system, but there are problems. Not having to pay anything (other than income taxes) is a plus. But the long lines for immediate care and the extremely long waits (months) for doctor appointments, specialists, and non-urgent procedures are a bit ridiculous. Later I may post more on that, but for the moment that's really all I can say.

Otherwise, Montreal is a great city if you can deal with the cold.