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Electives question


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I can’t speak to surgical electives specifically...but often it’s an administrator who assigns rotations for cores and electives, so even if someone agrees to having you on a rotation there can be other decisions made that are out of the staff’s hands. 
probably best to talk to the electives coordinator and express the mutual interest and see how it goes. Be gentle, kind, and not pushy!

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If a staff physician previously agreed to host you for an elective, then you could simply contact them about next steps. I agree with LostLamb that this is generally program/site dependent, and the administrative coordinator can give you the lay of the land. If the norm is to assign students to specific preceptors, you could express interest in being with a certain person (perhaps you have an interest in their subspecialty, for example). However, if students normally rotate among multiple preceptors, it may be logistically difficult to assign you primarily to a single preceptor for the duration of the elective, as there are often multiple arrangements made behind the scenes to optimize the experience for a student and minimize "dead time".

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All of the above is likely true, and each program is different unfortunately.

Unless there's a specific rule against it from the electives office, I'd recommend contacting staff directly and introducing yourself.

Usually staff in surgical specialties (at least the programs I know) volunteer to take medical students.

If you have inside information, target someone who is active on the selection committee.

Again, there are limited things in this process under your control.  Even the staff may have no control over which medical student they get beyond saying they have 'availability for a medical student'.

There are lots of territorial fights between clinical staff and admin here.  If things don't/can't happen then I'd suggest accepting the things you cannot change. 

Sadly, residency selection isn't about keeping medical students happy. Or anyone happy as far as I can tell.

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On 11/4/2019 at 8:34 AM, keener12345 said:

Thank you! Could anyone else comment on how this works for surgical specialties, especially very niche/smaller programs ?

Can't speak for smaller programs, but Toronto has a database that lets you search up specific preceptors by specialty (including surg specs) and it has their/their secretary's contact info. 

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Thank you everyone :)! And quick question, I know there are 8 weeks of electives for a certain speciality (which is usually 4 programs that last 2 weeks each). Does it make sense to do these 4 rotations at the schools/programs we want to match? Let’s say i want queens,Ottawa, Toronto and McGill as my top choices. I would pick these 4 as the spots to do electives, correct? And as a Toronto med student, do I get first pick for preceptor etc for electives.

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17 minutes ago, keener12345 said:

Thank you everyone :)! And quick question, I know there are 8 weeks of electives for a certain speciality (which is usually 4 programs that last 2 weeks each). Does it make sense to do these 4 rotations at the schools/programs we want to match? Let’s say i want queens,Ottawa, Toronto and McGill as my top choices. I would pick these 4 as the spots to do electives, correct? And as a Toronto med student, do I get first pick for preceptor etc for electives.

100% do electives where you want to end up. Competitive specialities won’t interview you if they never met you. The challenge is actually locking down those electives which I hear is a nightmare. I do not know the answer to your second question. 

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11 hours ago, keener12345 said:

Thank you everyone :)! And quick question, I know there are 8 weeks of electives for a certain speciality (which is usually 4 programs that last 2 weeks each). Does it make sense to do these 4 rotations at the schools/programs we want to match? Let’s say i want queens,Ottawa, Toronto and McGill as my top choices. I would pick these 4 as the spots to do electives, correct? And as a Toronto med student, do I get first pick for preceptor etc for electives.

YES, always visit the schools you want to match to most! It shows your commitment to them. You get a feel for their program, and they get to assess you as a potential resident. Your 2 weeks there will be more decisive than your interview, in many ways. But of course, the flip side is that the narrow geographic range you listed is a gamble. The western and atlantic schools may not super be inclined to interview you if you're going for a competitive specialty. So at the end of the day it's up to your personal goals and risk tolerance

Most med schools do give their students "preferences" for electives in the sense that you can sign up for them earlier, contact specific preceptors, and/or drop electives closer to the start date. I don't know what year you're in, but your school will probably disseminate this info around early/mid year 3

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11 minutes ago, garlic said:

YES, always visit the schools you want to match to most! It shows your commitment to them. You get a feel for their program, and they get to assess you as a potential resident. Your 2 weeks there will be more decisive than your interview, in many ways. But of course, the flip side is that the narrow geographic range you listed is a gamble. The western and atlantic schools may not super be inclined to interview you if you're going for a competitive specialty. So at the end of the day it's up to your personal goals and risk tolerance

Most med schools do give their students "preferences" for electives in the sense that you can sign up for them earlier, contact specific preceptors, and/or drop electives closer to the start date. I don't know what year you're in, but your school will probably disseminate this info around early/mid year 3

Haha thank you so much for all this info. Really really helps! I’m in 1st year, so just started  - so defs lots of time. It’s just thinking about a competitive speciality and don’t want to get behind.

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