Clerkship / Residency Questions

[thisone]

I have a few questions for current & past University of Calgary students. Thank you so much for your thoughts!!

1)  How did you find your 3rd year/clerkship experience? I've heard it's particularly gruelling because it's quite packed-in. How much time do you have off, and do you feel as if your experiences trained you well for residency?

2)  For those who have graduated from U of C Med and are in your residency, were you able to match to where you wanted to go/what program? I know CaRMS is a mixed bag, but does Calgary Med fair well in terms of selection? 

3) I saw a stat on the Cumming School of Medicine website about Calgary Med undergrads fairing better than the national average in residency -- is this largely the case? Would it be wrong to say that Calgary trains strong clinicians?

 

[HiHopes]

Thisone,

 

I will leave you this link http://www.carms.ca/en/data-and-reports/r-1/reports-2016/ It has essentially all matching statistics you may possible want to look at, straight from the source, which is Carms.

[thisone]

Thank you HiHopes! This helps quite a bit. I'd still be interested in hearing people's thoughts re: clerkship, if they are willing to share.

[HiHopes]

Absolutely. I just figured it'd be a good start! Stats are just one side of the story. The subjective feeling of each student in regards to their experience is just as informative, especially considering the three-year program's idiosyncrasies and how quick each student was to decide their path.

[sixstar]

I'm a UofC alumni who is now completing residency at another program - based on my experiences:

 

-The 3rd Year clerkship can be tough with very few breaks, but I think that it prepares you well for residency. As a side note, I think they now have added an extra week break in the middle of CaRMS.

-When I was first accepted to UofC, I was a little worried that I wouldn't be prepared as well with the 3 year program. Now having graduated and working as a resident supervising other med students, I'm very happy with my UofC training. I feel the time-pressure of a 3 year program encourages more self directed learning, which is an important skill as a resident. In addition, I feel that the clinical knowledge and procedural skills were well taught at UofC, and prepared me well for residency.

-As for CaRMS matching, every year has variation, but my year matched very well. Though, I don't think I would choose a medical school based on how they match in CaRMS. They are way too many factors involved in the match.

 

I'm sure you'll find there will be a wide variety of opinions on the 3 year program - but I just wanted to share my opinion that I feel the UofC program prepared me well for residency, and if I were to do medical school again, I would go back to UofC.