Clinical Psych PhD - Canada v USA?

[huskypsych]

I am browsing programs to apply to this cycle and I am an American, but share research interests with several professors at Canadian universities. I am very familiar with the application, training/internship, and post-doctoral norms in America, but was wondering what the differences may be in Canada? I'm doing some browsing myself, but was hoping someone here might have some experience and be able to summarize the differences easily (: In either country, I will be looking for clinical psych programs with a strong basis in research and of course APA/CPA accredited.  

 

Thank you! 

[PsycUndergrad]

I’m a Canadian student who looked into both Canadian and American PhD programs. Canadian clinical programs are very similar to American programs. There are no major differences in the application procedures, and the programs typically have the same content you would see in the US. I think the US, you apply to PhD, even if you get a master’s along the way. In Canada, master’s and PhD are technically separate programs, and you apply to the MA first. But you are expected to continue onto the PhD at the same school, and applying is basically a formality. 

For internship, we also apply to APPIC and go through the match process. I’m not sure about post-doc since the licensing requirements, etc. vary so much between states/provinces, but I do know people who have gone to the US from Canada and vice versa. 

Funding is a little different and could be a potential issue for you. Typically, we do not get a tuition waiver, and instead pay tuition ourselves. This is not a big deal since it’s much cheaper than the US ($5-10k/year). But as an international student, your tuition would be much higher than that, and you wouldn’t be eligible for the major external fellowships. So it would be More expensive to fund you than a Canadian student. 

 

[grayjay]

I'm also a Canadian student, looking into both the US and Canada. What PsycUndergrad said sums it up pretty well; however, another difference I noticed in application process is that most Canadian programs seem to require the GRE Psych subject test, while in the US it's not a must/ is becoming increasingly less popular.

P.S. I'm a Canadian, but just finished undergrad in America

Edited August 27, 2018 by grayjay

[huskypsych]

@PsycUndergrad @grayjay Thank you both so much!!