robclem21

I don't feel as though I "went out of my way" to mention your GPA and ECs, but I figured that because you put so much detail into your initial post, a more wholistic answer that takes your entire circumstance into account rather than saying how a single element of your application will or will not affect you (which is not helpful) might be more helpful to you. It seems you already have everything all figured out though and you don't need help here. I'm not going to get into a full argument with you here. Especially since your default response is to resort to personal insults. I do however withdraw my comments on your maturity and amend my initial post that with this type of attitude and ability to take feedback that maybe spending another decade learning in a gruelling environment is not for you.

It has nothing to do with the need. I am 100% confident that this province needs more family physicians and that both access and the availability of family physicians are at critically low levels. Who is going to train these doctors? Even family medicine programs need access to sites with dedicated CTUs, OB, pediatrics, emergency medicine and family med clinics with faculty willing to teach. They need people to teach and create lectures, seminars, tutorials, academic day and simulation for residents, etc. Physicians in community settings aren't always interested in providing this and getting buy-in from those who just want to practice and are already burnt out is miserable. Not wanting to be involved in academics is why many went to the community in the first place. Finding the capacity in hospitals/clinics for an additional several hundred people (per year) is nearly impossible. Even TMU right now is in the process of not being able to obtain RC accreditation for many of their residency programs because they don't have the appropriate infrastructure in hospitals to provide rotations or teaching for residents. They are relying on other schools to accept and teach their trainees that also don't have capacity to support their current learners. The idea up front is excellent, but the downstream infrastructure doesn't exist to actually feasibly train this many new doctors. They can't just show up to a clinic and be a functional member of the healthcare team. The money is there, but it's a publicity stunt with poorly explored consequences.

I'm sorry, I was of the opinion that you wanted an honest answer to your post and not just a bunch of people to tell you amazing you are and how easy your path is going to be. The deprecating sarcasm won't earn you any sympathy here. My response wasn't meant to be rude or inflammatory, and it certainly wasn't to diminish your accomplishments to this point. However, if you are going to ask for honest advice on this forum, you should expect to receive that and be open to that feedback. Thousands of people apply and get rejected to medicine every year, many of whom have applications that look exactly like yours. I am not saying it is not possible, and I believe I actually encouraged you to try in my initial post. I think anyone posting advice on this site, especially those that previously spent multiple cycles applying and going through rejections, went to graduate school, and spent years on medical school and CaRMS admission committees owe it to provide honest feedback. Now how you handle that is up to you, but don't waste everyones time if you already have an answer in mind that you're just waiting to hear.

What an absolute disaster....

I agree with the poster above. I think if medicine is what you want to pursue, then you should absolutely try your best to make it happen. Nothing is worse than having regret for not doing something and then wondering what could've been. It might be a long road ahead though if you are looking at this path realistically. I don't think that an incomplete lab tech program will be a barrier to entrance (especially given the circumstances which could easily be explained in a letter), however, I still think your GPA from your UG will be. Some schools will take your graduate degree, life experience, and maturity into account, but unfortunately the academic part of your application is still very much on the weak side and without some exceptional luck or experience that truly differentiates you (many people with 3.9+ GPA also play instruments and work at food banks) you will be hard-pressed to do much better this time with your applications. My experience with second undergraduate degrees or extra courses is minimal, so others may offer better advice on those avenues, but be prepared to go back to school again to find ways to raise your GPA if you want to make yourself more competitive before applying to medicine again. Also consider the MCAT to open up more schools and you may need to be prepared to look at over-seas options. Review some of the specific schools you would apply to and see what is feasible before committing to this path. Again, if its what you want then 100% go for it, but it will set you back financially and with your life for at least 8-10 years.

Transfer is a better option. Discuss with your program director.

Sorry to hear you arrived at a situation that you are unhappy with. I am going to caveat what I say with the fact that many people are often unhappy initially with the match results and then once residency starts and they meet their colleagues and start working, they end up really enjoying it and being very happy with the outcome. You should actually go in with a positive outlook (instead of just saying it) because despite you saying that you will give 110%, you already are not. You might be surprised. Now, without knowing the exact specialty, or location this is a difficult question to answer. Admittedly, I don't know the legality/rules of re-entering the match once CaRMS has been completed (or entering the US match after a successful CaRMS match). I suspect the chance of re-entering R1 is not possible, even if your PD agrees to let you break your contract prior to starting. Additionally, not sure how many competitive programs would want you after that happens, especially after you fell so far down your rank list to begin with that you ended up in this situation. It would be a major red flag. I don't believe "quitting" is a realistic option if you still choose to complete a residency program. To transfer, you will ultimately need to the support of both the PD of the accepting program and the PD of your current program. The order you approach them doesn't particularly matter but in general if you want support it's best not to blindside people. Also, all the PDs know each other and talk often. With that being said, you would be hard-pressed to find a PD who will accept or support you (on both old and new program side) without first completing at least 12 months of residency. That would be giving it a realistic shot. Inter-province transfers are very difficult or impossible for competitive specialties. Your best bet would be to transfer from RC program to family. My suggestion would be to relocate, start residency and try for at least a year, and then if you're still unhappy, discuss a possible transfer.

Good luck to everybody today and tomorrow. I remember both the pre-match day and match day vividly from 5 years ago. There really is nothing compared to the stress of these 2 days. Keep yourself preoccupied, surround yourself with friends and family, and remember that this is just part of the journey and not the end. You will all look back fondly on this day a few years from now and realize its an amazing moment so remember to enjoy and savour it and celebrate!

I agree with the post above. Nothing you have listed here is "standout" or particularly meaningful for admission committees so without a GPA (not only for your second online degree, but also your first degree) and MCAT score, it is tough to give a realistic assessment. I would also aim for 3.9+, not 3.7+. 3.7 is the absolute basement and not realistic for most people applying to be successful.

It is tough to say exactly how each program will evaluate this for CaRMS, as it would depend on a number of factors including what specialty you are applying for, how competitive that program is, what core rotation you failed and how immediately relevant it is to the specialty you applied to you, what specifically the reason you failed was, and what comments show up on the transcript/MSPR. In general, I would say that failing a clinical component of a core rotation is a big red flag. A single exam would be less important, but it is fairly hard to fail a clinical rotation and often this reflects some issue with work-ethic, professionalism, collegiality, or maturity, more than just clinical deficiency. If you feel the reason you failed was unjust or the evaluator was bias in some way then definitely appeal this, but how successful it is will depend on the nature of the issues.

I'm not an expert on all the different schools and how they will evaluate the many different options for extra coursework. This is something you will have to look into to determine which option best fits your goals. At this point, whichever option you pick should definitely have some element of parallel planning to it that will give you options for careers other than medicine when you finish. I think at this point it would be foolish to continue to get credits with no purpose other than boosting your GPA. I also agree with the poster above. Arguably more important that which route you choose is what you will do differently. If you will continue to do the same thing and achieve the same GPA (which is not a bad GPA by the way, just not competitive for medical school), then it doesn't matter what you do. You need to address the cause of whatever is holding you back from getting a 3.9+ GPA in order for the next step to have any chance of being successful.

As you requested, in all honesty. I don't think your grades are strong enough and you have yet to write the MCAT. It has been quite a few number of year since I applied to medical school now so I cant comment on the timing of graduation. I also don't know how schools will weight your grades with your time off. Either way though, taking your two strongest years, your GPA is still not competitive for most schools (especially in Ontario). Unless you have something spectacular on your CV like olympic athlete for example (which it doesn't sound like you do), you will be hard pressed to get interviews anywhere no matter what your MCAT score turns out to be.

Don't have information on transfers, but if it helps at all, I know many who take the ROL you made 10/10 times. Always collegial/supportive >> prestige. Prestige is a made-up concept. You can do fellowship anywhere you want with good reference letters and electives. Don't freak out before you match. Everything will work out fine.

Why not family? 2-year residency: light on call, you can customize your practice to whatever you want, can do residency in a smaller city. You can do some derm and peds.

I don't believe this is accurate.