Maruo

I've heard very poor things about the program (all anecdotal). Mostly around staff placing a lot of work on the residents without much supervision or learning

Although a practicing internist is probably best to answer, I'll chime in with my thoughts since no one has replied thusfar. Corrections welcome. 1. It is the same, but people generally only apply to 1-2 subspecialties. Commonly people apply to a primary (say, cardio or geri) with a 5 year GIM program as a backup. 2. Unmatched residents continue in their home program for a 4th year to become a general internist. They typically end up working in the community. Some folks in this boat will secure funding for another year of training and sorta become a 5 year GIM. I have not heard of anyone matching again after the fact (and perhaps it's actually not possible at all) 3. Hmm.. I can't really answer this one. I know I've seen some attendings from Resp do CA work in the ICU. Some specialists also work on CTU/MTU but my understanding is that this is being phased out in favour of 5 year GIM's.

A couple points. Source: was IM first choice, path second a few years ago. 1. Be cautious if you're backing up with internal. You really need to at least tolerate the life of an internal medicine resident (ideally, thrive and not just survive though). In my experience, it is very different from being a student rotating on medicine. I've heard of a number of people who ended up in IM as their 2nd choice and were very unhappy. 2. Path is significantly less competitive than IM, especially for some of the smaller path CaRMS entries like neuropath or general path. I'm assuming when you say path, you're referring to Anatomical Pathology, but these other specialties are also ones to have on your radar. 3. All this being said, I think it is reasonable to backup with the two. If you are set on doing this, I think your challenge will be accruing appropriate reference letters. In terms of experience/face time, you likely don't need much Pathology elective time. I would recommend 2-4 weeks of path electives and ensure you get to work with a few staff (don't get stuck with one for the entire duration because it will limit the number of letters you can get). However, most path electives are pretty good at moving you between different staff. 4. Probably goes without saying, but make sure you talk to residents in all the programs you're considering. Get a sense of what its like and if you could see yourself doing it. My understanding is that IM committees and reviewers can spot people backing up pretty easily based on electives. That doesn't mean you can't get in, however. Be ready to answer why you have most of your electives in another specialty when it comes time for interview. Path is way more lenient on who they give interviews to because they have significantly fewer applicants (and many unfilled spots historically).

Congratulations and good luck to everyone invited!

Any ethical thinking you'll need for interviews should have been acquired during your clerkship/electives. Sell it!

I would ask your residents and staff how they feel about the fatigue. Notably, CTU is 3-5 blocks of the year for residents, so it's not what they're doing ALL the time. I personally really enjoy CTU for the reasons you've listed- it's just very tiring because of the demands on your time. Just because your colleagues seem tired does not necessarily mean they regret doing IM!

Feels like yesterday I was waiting for the D-day. I know it's hard, but try and focus on other things- hit the gym, go for a run and spend time with friends. Good luck.

Thanks- I'll do some reading on them! Also, FYI: the link you posted for the RBC Residency guide is the 9th edition from 2011, but I found a 10th edition copy on google.

Hey guys, Firstly, thanks so much for compiling the stats. Correct me if I'm wrong, but ralk's post indicates that applicants with a first choice of Dermatology are given alternates more often than those with a first choice in, say, Neuropathology. I've done a lot of reading on the forums, but a lot of questions still remain in my mind. For example, what do the hours of these specializations look like? How many work through the night versus regular hours? Perhaps it's a bit taboo, but I'm also interested in finding out the wages of each specialization. Are there any resources out there? Right now (thanks to these forums), I only have a rough idea of what specializations are competitive. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Result: Waitlist wGPA: 3.9 ish MCAT: 33+ ECs: Variable with a focus on medical/academic positions. Interview: Felt strong for most stations. Panel went very well. Year: Finished UG

OOP Waitlisted. Will be declining. Good luck!

Accepted. VMFP - first choice. GPA: ~90 MCAT: Good enough NAQ: Fairly standard across the board. Focus on medical and academic positions. Variable paid employment at uni. Interview: Felt I did poorly on a few, average on most and great on only one. Guess I got carried by my pre-interview score.

Accepted! IP - 4th year GPA - 4.00 MCAT - 35 EC - Fairly standard across the board. Focus on medical and academic positions. Variable paid employment at uni. INTERVIEW - Absolutely nailed it. I seriously could not think of a single station which went poorly. Felt strong even months after the interview. Over the moon right now.