Relevance of Nursing Experience to CaRMS

[rhogan]

Hey all,

Current med2 looking anxiously ahead to CaRMS. I find myself surrounded by people who have been preparing for this for years, with tons of publications, research experience, etc that I lack as I worked as an RN for a number of years before even thinking about going to med school. It's a bit anxiety provoking thinking about matching competitiveness and already being behind the curve. I'm trying to get into research and wrack up some publications but I'm wondering if my past work experience could have any benefit in CaRMS competitiveness (even as a relevant point of interest, if nothing else)? I'm interested in rads, IM, and emerg.

Apologies for the trite neuroticism.

[thethirdlaw]

FWIW, probably the best clerk I've ever worked with was an ICU nurse prior to med school. Your experiences are immensely valuable, and I hold them in higher regard than publishing a case study or a 5th author on a systematic review that merely edited the manuscript.

[Scorbix]

As someone with a different health/professional degree before entering medicine, I think having a degree in nursing is tremendously beneficial not only for your learning and experience, but also as it related to your future CaRMS application. The classmates that I have who have been a nurse, pharmacist, etc., are incredibly competent, and this, I can only assume, helped them in their successful match this year. Also, for what its worth, you might very well be asked about your experiences as a nurse, "what sets you a part from other applicants", etc. when it comes time to apply for residency positions, and I think having a previous nursing degree with only be a benefit to you. Don't let your concerns about not being on a level playing field with your classmates hold you back; if anything, you are likely already ahead of many of them in clinical experiences, knowledge, and patient skills!

[Artier]

To add on to the above posters, I was actually quite surprised how rarely research came up in the CaRMS interviews. Whereas previous life/clinical experiences were very high yield. 

[TravellingCat]

Hey Rhogan,

I don't normally post on these forums, but thought I'd give some encouragement seeing as I took a similar route to medicine! As a quick bio, did my BScN in Canada, worked as an Emergency Nurse for 2 years, then did medicine overseas in Australia. Matched as an IMG to my top choice (Anesthesia) in the CaRMS 2020 cycle. I applied to Anesthesia, EM, and IM and got 13/15 interview offers.

I imagine it might be a bit different if you're applying as a CMG vs IMG, but from my experience, my background as a nurse was highly valued both during my electives and during the CaRMS tour. It always gave me an extra perspective and ability to discuss team dynamics, conflict within a team, communication etc. Note, I did have a little research (published literature review - did this start to finish in year 3 of med) as well as other aspects of my application that were strong (board scores, global health), however I think my nursing experience answered the commonly asked question 'what makes you unique'.

While on the CaRMS tour, I came across multiple programs that had residents who were also previously nurses - EM & Anesthesia mainly. Was also told by a staff at Queens IM in the interview 'Nurses make the best doctors'. That was a very encouraging way to leave the interview haha

At the end of the day, everyone just has to figure out what makes them 'special' and 'unique', and do their best to highlight this in their application (in my opinion). I found my experience in healthcare prior to medicine an easy thing to talk about for this question. There is no best formula for CaRMS. Try to be positive, be yourself, and be well-rounded!

Hope this helps!

 

[JohnGrisham]

2 hours ago, TravellingCat said:

I applied to Anesthesia, EM, and IM and got 13/15 interview offers.

Well done! I will say you're likely very atypical even for a Canadian IMG, that is an impressive and well above average haul of interviews for IMGs. 

[ChemPetE]

Very highly relevant. My non-trad background continues to be relevant even for jobs after residency.