socialjustice

I am not trying to disrespect FM. It is very likely that is where I may end up. I am just stating the facts and experiences of others. I am sure there are a lot of strong applicants in FM, and I am sure a lot of applicants pick FM as their top choice. However, I also see a lot of applicants in FM - who are only there because they could not make it to their top choice specialty. There are not that many applicants who get into their second choice FRCPC field ( with the exception of lab medicine fields), as usually FRCPC fields are quite selective in terms of the candidates they accept. So, I wonder if it is worth it for me to hustle and try to make it to a FRCPC field ( with a high chance of rejection) or take the easy route and match to FM?

In competitive fields ( like EM, Plastics, and Optho) you have to put in a ton of effort to show you are interested, and even then there is a high chance you may go unmatched from these specialties. So I'd suspect that the rate of unwilling applicants is very low in highly competitive specialties. Whereas, in noncompetitive fields ( like path or FM), you can match with absolutely no interest or electives ( and even a CV that shows you had an interest in another specialty). So the no. of unwilling applicants in FM can be quite high. Also, based on this, to me at least, it seems that FM accepts applicants that other specialties has rejected ( so it is where less competitive applicants usually go).

Well, it is not that simple. Because the applicants who do not get their first choice specialty ( whatever it maybe), end up in 2nd iteration (applying to mainly FM or whatever else is left). I have seen people who wanted even IM and end up not getting it ( and they had to go to FM). Plus, if you talk to academic counsellors in med school ( and tell them you are interested in anything remotely competitive), they encourage you to apply to FM to avoid being unmatched. If you go unmatched in first iteration from whatever initial specialty you applied to, one of your main option is to pretty much apply to FM. And usually FM accepts most applicants as they have a lot of seats. I have an appreciation for family docs, and the work they do. I am just saying that often people may end up in FM because they have loans and debts, and they cant afford to go unmatched.

CaRMS seems like a blackbox. I have met a few residents that wanted EM ( and showed all the interest), but they still ended up in FM ( and they were not bad residents AFAIK- at least above average). It seems to me that FM is where a lot of residents end up when they don't get the specialty they initially wanted.

I am currently in clerkship, and have noted clerkship to be difficult. I feel that I am average at best. I was wondering where do average medical students end up doing for specialty. Do they end up being in FM, since it is difficult to be a competitive applicant for anything else if you are just an average medical student?

Which residency programs have the highest attrition rates?