m_jacob_45

I asked an assistant PD of a medium-large specialty to write me a letter and he agreed but told me to only use it at other programs otherwise he would have to "recuse" himself when the admissions committee was meeting. Not sure if it works same way at other programs, but I ended up matching there so I think it worked out well.

I would say you're pretty correct overall, but not day 1 of med school. The issue is most hyper competitive programs require showing strong interest and research in that field (i.e. being the head of that interest group, at least 1 but hopefully more research projects/publications). I would say most people would need to have decided by second year or so that they want one of these specialties so that there's enough time to pursue these activities. Third and fourth year are so busy, I would not recommend waiting until then to start research or other activities from scratch. Of course, if you do extremely well in a clerkship rotation/elective in a hyper competitive specialty and become "well known" to people who are well-respected/involved in choosing residents, you may get in somewhere with less research/activities. I would not rely on that happening though since there are many unpredictable aspects to electives, like you may have a more junior preceptor or you may have multiple preceptors so its harder for the program to get to know you. Hope this helps!

Really there's no need to go to too much trouble to get the most professional CaRMS photo especially if it will cost you a lot of money. I took one for a friend I met on elective in the hallway in the hospital (happened to be a plain white background), and it worked perfectly well. Just as others have said, make sure you are not dressed too casually.

Yes this is the same as my school as well.

If you are on a surgical rotation and are not interested in surgery as a medical student, you can definitely take those post call days (at least at my school).

Yes it is.

I also only offer help for free through these forums and think that that's a nice way to give back especially to people from lower SES background, but I also just caution you to double check with your school and read through their policies on charging for these types of activities. My school recently sent an email to the medical students and graduates to say that they consider joining medical school admission consulting firms a breach of professionalism that would come with serious consequences including litigation.

Thought I would comment as well as a new internal medicine resident. I have done a lot of MTU especially for 4th year electives, and I would say it is one of the hardest rotations in regard to the learning curve and amount of responsibility, so don’t be too hard on yourself if it’s not going as well as you would hope. You will still improve a lot over the course of your rotation. Also I find the preceptor for MTU to make a huge difference and have found the experience to be awesome with a great preceptor and not so much with other preceptors. The spelling mistake comments are a bit odd since most preceptors are more understanding about that type of thing when you’re doing consults at 3 am. Also remember that many of the sub specialties of medicine are very different from MTU, so I wouldn’t rule it out just based on your MTU experience, but if you want something with more consistent patient interaction, I would maybe consider family med. unfortunately, pretty much every specialty has a lot of documentation, but it will get easier and you can be less detailed as a staff/ later on in residency. Good luck!

Common presentations (not exhaustive list): Rashes, otitis media, pharyngitis/bronchitis/pneumonia, fever NYD in infant, UTI, MSK complaints/injuries, head injuries (usually minor), asthma/anaphylaxis, cuts/scrapes (chance to suture/staple, glue), rule out meningitis, gastroenteritis, abdominal pain, seizures. Helpful way to prepare is reading peds section of whatever you use to study (i.e. Toronto notes). Adult emerge is quite different- a lot more chest pain/COPDE/CHFE, syncope, falls, failure to cope, gyne issues, but still has a lot of overlap with peds emerg.

You won't need to get it until flu season later this year (i.e. usually its first available around November, the due date is usually in December). Frequently, its offered in the medical school on a few different dates, but not sure how Covid may change that.

Yes most people get the cardiology IV model. No problem!

The company was Littman, and yes I think engraving was possible though I don’t totally remember. There were options for about 10 different colours and we were told to get the cardiology IV model (though honestly I don’t think the model would make a huge difference).

No scrubs are not used for anatomy, and in clerkship scrubs are supplied by the hospital (free).

You will (I assume) receive your white coat from the school though I’m not sure when exactly if there’s no white coat ceremony, in Ottawa scrubs are not needed for anatomy lab since they have specific lab coats for that (though unsure whether they will have anatomy labs for the fall due to Covid). There is also a bulk order for stethoscopes done in the fall, so no need to buy one now. Key things to buy would be a working lap top (no tablets needed, but get one if you prefer and have the money), create a comfortable space to study, a few business casual clothes and closed-toe shoes for when preclerkship electives start back up. Don’t need anything too special at this point in my opinion.

Western grad here. Western health sci is more geared towards people interested in allied health care (I.e. it’s a lot about healthcare policy/systems) and has a lot less basic science than western medical sciences. That said, it may still be a good option for med school as long as you take appropriate prerequisites since it’s probably easier to get a higher GPA than medical science or biology.