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deeman101

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deeman101 last won the day on October 1 2021

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  1. If you're asking for an easy program that can get you a high GPA, you're not there yet mentally. You'll know you're there when you believe you'll get it done no matter the program, university, course load, etc. It's better to be ready to overcome any obstacle than it is to think you'll be lucky enough to dodge any setback.
  2. Unfortunate situation. I feel for you. There is no easy answer or magic bullet that will turn this situation around. Every doctor who's reading this will have a natural tendency to try to fix it for you. But first and foremost the situation is as shitty as you think it is and others have unfortunately felt the same. One thing about how "hard" a rotation is or even a specialty is depends a lot on how much you enjoy it. A 5 year gen surg residency can feel easier and fly by for someone that's really into it vs someone who did FM based on let's say the cold calculus of money earned, hours worked, years until retirement rather than how much do they actually enjoy the job. It's good to hear you like your particular +1. At least it can mean once you get there your life enjoyment can improve a lot. I'd recommend priority 1 for you is passing. Priority 2, learn what to do AND what not to do based on what you are seeing. Enjoyable or not, there's something to still take away. And in terms of getting through a rough time, my method was to always spend a couple hours every night doing something I like. That's always meant cutting into sleep hours but for me it was worth it. A small escape.
  3. Bad working environment is for the most part independent of specialty and level of care of the hospital. It's the people that make or break a working environment. Level 1 trauma center or not....by the way almost every medical school is based around a level 1 trauma center. Hamilton included. I've worked in three level 1 trauma services in Canada and at worst the bad vibes in the worst of them was annoying but ignorable. My absolute most insufferable toxic culture experiences has actually been in family medicine rotations in medical school and residency. Not from my genSx, uro, N.Sx rotations. Or even when I did an elective in anesthesia, where you might be looked down on by your surgical colleagues your entire career. Your experience is valid and your grievances with your situation can be real, but projecting it on others and taking issue with their more positive experiences is not constructive. If it really bugs you, then develop your leadership skills because often the culture is set from the top and one day you might be in a position to do that yourself.
  4. They're just haters. And also misguided. My wife was in nursing school (now a GP) and on the first day her class was told they'll know more than a PGY1 by the time they graduate nursing school. It didn't turn out to be true..... I dealt with 35+ year experienced nurses that unfortunately did not know nearly as much as they thought they did and had to play 3D chess on them to manage patients properly. But to be fair I've dealt with other nurses that were actually smarter than most residents they deal with but always were respectful. In fact they'd do the 3D chess thing back on those residents to get them to do the right thing. I asked one of them not to retire until I was done residency, lol. She retired 3 months after I finished after 44 years.
  5. RE: toxic culture, I think you have to keep in mind that a) this job takes over way more of your life than many others and most often this was not anticipated, b) the education process selects for multi-talented individuals and then gradually strips them of most of their activities they find joy in over time, c) these are still very smart people with generally very good interpersonal skills (i.e. high insight, adept verbal/nonverbal expressive and receptive communication, etc....not necessarily friendly social skills but the kind that makes them passive aggressive pain in the butt). And because the job is overrepresented in their lives they take out their frustrations on those around them at work. Particularly those subordinate to them. That said, once I accepted and learned to look past people that are full of negative energy and are a waste of my time, I met many amazing people that I look forward to spending time with on the job.
  6. Yea I always thought it was technically possible but never met anyone that actually did get a h1b without the USMLEs. Even today another one of my colleagues who's been in practice for 5 years is now doing the USMLEs for a job in the US. Lol
  7. I don't know if you're speaking from personal experience, but if you are aiming to get a H1B you most likely need your USMLEs. As in anyone I know who went on fellowship with a H1B had to submit their USMLEs scores. If you know how to get the H1B without USMLEs done then please let me know. I don't know anyone who has done it to date. J1s don't need USMLEs for sure. Those are pretty easy to get.
  8. I've done my PhD through the CIP route. You can DM me with any questions.
  9. Having that much research is diminishing returns on your app. And it won't really cancel out deficiencies in other areas. Its better to be balanced, solid in all categories with no deficiencies than to be very strong in one category at the expense of others. Also, real sees real. 50 pubs of B.S. will get you called out by real researchers. If its actually 50 quality pubs then thats bordering on associate prof level work in many departments.
  10. Haha, then you're right to not focus on research. The days of doing research only during business hours is long gone. Even for radoncs with 80% "protected" research time. Most of my research production happens between 11pm and 3am. My collaborators have their kids go to bed earlier though so it's earlier in the night for them. Compensation stuff you'll have to DM me. I'm not going to say more than it's good and getting better publicly. Fellowships are not necessary but some more academic program chairs still would prefer it. Don't do it unless it's what you want personally I'd say. For geographic flexibility, there are many places now in Canada that are hiring. But if you have just one place in mind and have your heart set on it then it can be difficult if the stars don't align. In general, where you will choose to work is a balance of location, lifestyle, and type of practice. In general it's true, but a bit less so in radonc. Radonc and medonc are both so academic that it selects for similar people. It's just that the level of academia is sometimes mismatched between the candidate and institution. But I'd say even the majority of community centers participate in some type of research willingly and without real incentivization.
  11. I know this is a bit old but I'll throw in a couple more cents into the mix. As someone who has recently interviewed for jobs and probably more in touch with the current state of affairs. The salaries are definitely increasing in this specialty. Led by Ontario but even the bottom denominator is seeing big pay increases. There is currently an under-supply which is growing and at least in some provinces that has led to negotiating leverage. Also great as a candidate graduating out. Its going to be a buyer's market for the next 5 years easily. Most residency programs are great. As for Toronto's residency program and staying in Toronto, there is a mismatch of expectations I've observed. Every Toronto resident I've met says they like research, want to do research, see themselves as academic, etc. and somehow going from the Toronto residency to a "lesser" place is unacceptable. But its very clear most of them just wanted to be close to home and probably more than happy just seeing patients and punching a 9-to-5 card. To those that are super passionate about research its very easy to spot when someone is just saying words vs actually really into research. For the two academic radonc centers, they are really feeling a need to dramatically accelerate their research programs and raise their international profile, so those goals just don't jive with the goals of some of their residents. If you identify as a type A and top 10th percentile for research, leadership and being a game changer for the field then Toronto as a resident or staff is a good fit. 10% of their residents do thrive because this is who they are. Otherwise, its better to pick another Ontario residency program and then take a job in a community center in the GTA. There are plenty available. But also keep in mind Canada is much bigger than Toronto and there are many awesome places. I grew up in Toronto but its been many years since I left and enjoyed living in many other places in Canada.
  12. Yes it's possible. It's state to state dependent. California last time I checked the easiest way is if you've been in practice in Canada for 3 or 4 years. USMLE is really only needed for visa potentially and maybe some states (very few, no California). That's said you're way more marketable if you do your US boards. I'm in the US right now and I've done all my USMLEs and US boards. It made the process a bit easier but certainly wasn't mission critical. Especially the USMLEs.
  13. Has this been brought up here before? These for-profit vultures already piss me off for preying on the bright-eyed hopeful premeds that may be a bit lost. But this is next level BS to slander premed101 to further their own gains. https://bemoacademicconsulting.com/blog/top-5-reasons-to-avoid-online-premed-forums
  14. Its alright, RNs, NPs, ANPs, pharmacists, hell even LPNs are happy to become demi-doctors or even full-speed primary care clinicians depending on the province and the setting. They're demanding fair compensation for doing that despite still a significant gap in training length/breadth and capability. If the provincial associations negotiate well this can be used to justify the pay for the remaining docs that didn't get replaced by these ambitious allied health professionals. The no-fault Canadian system works very well to accommodate them.
  15. Well ya. It's America. You expect fairness over financial gains?
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