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2017 Carms Match Results!


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Why is the US not an option? You should make it an option as matching FM or IM in the states is far more likely than in Canada. And for FM, it is extremely portable back to Canada for work.

 

My school really isn't set up in a way that preps one to study for the US boards. I actually think it works against it in many ways based on the calendar year and our own assessments; its also difficult to secure US electives/ I wouldn't know where to begin. But I can certainly acknowledge the value of doing all the steps; its just hard to successfully pass Canadian boards, exams, and US boards when they are all happening around the same time. There is no time off given at my school for USMLE studying like there are at some others and zero guidance too. I am not closed to the idea, i am just trying to be realistic about biting off more than I can chew and ruining my chances universally.

 

Is Health Canada really aiming against sub specialist IMs i.e. infectious disease? And yes I realize the J-1 recruitments for family will continue to rise; one would think then that a Canadian raised, commonwealth trained IMG would then have a decent shot at family med in Canada, but I obviously realize the inherent challenges. 

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Hey collegedude, thanks for sharing!!

Did you re-apply to your very competitive speciality this year?? Or you were backing up with IM? Did you do your electives in IM mostly this year?

I had a friend unmatched to a very competitive surgical speciality, and is thinking reapplying next year while backing up with IM. The second iteration has 0 spots left in his& her top specialty.

I am glad that it worked out for you ????????

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My school really isn't set up in a way that preps one to study for the US boards. I actually think it works against it in many ways based on the calendar year and our own assessments; its also difficult to secure US electives/ I wouldn't know where to begin. But I can certainly acknowledge the value of doing all the steps; its just hard to successfully pass Canadian boards, exams, and US boards when they are all happening around the same time. There is no time off given at my school for USMLE studying like there are at some others and zero guidance too. I am not closed to the idea, i am just trying to be realistic about biting off more than I can chew and ruining my chances universally.

 

Is Health Canada really aiming against sub specialist IMs i.e. infectious disease? And yes I realize the J-1 recruitments for family will continue to rise; one would think then that a Canadian raised, commonwealth trained IMG would then have a decent shot at family med in Canada, but I obviously realize the inherent challenges. 

Get the books and learn it. Many schools aren't set up to be prepped on minutae for board, but you should have a decent baseline regardless of the school you go to. 

 

If you have to choose between Canadian boards and US boards, pick US boards and gun hard for FM or IM.  For FM, you have way better odds at getting a US FM residency as a IMG than in Canada.

 

Most people i know at foreign schools do both boards, and none of them say it is hard at all(or rather that it is unsurmountable) - Canadian boards are generally said to be easier than US boards, and you end up prepping for the same exam type, and just add a few extra days or a week to focus on test specific formats.

 

Just trying to provide a devils advocate for you, so that you don't feel its out of your reach.

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My school really isn't set up in a way that preps one to study for the US boards. I actually think it works against it in many ways based on the calendar year and our own assessments; its also difficult to secure US electives/ I wouldn't know where to begin. But I can certainly acknowledge the value of doing all the steps; its just hard to successfully pass Canadian boards, exams, and US boards when they are all happening around the same time. There is no time off given at my school for USMLE studying like there are at some others and zero guidance too. I am not closed to the idea, i am just trying to be realistic about biting off more than I can chew and ruining my chances universally.

 

Is Health Canada really aiming against sub specialist IMs i.e. infectious disease? And yes I realize the J-1 recruitments for family will continue to rise; one would think then that a Canadian raised, commonwealth trained IMG would then have a decent shot at family med in Canada, but I obviously realize the inherent challenges. 

It is never too late

I know someone who started to do the steps after 18 years of graduation and he is doing well.

Just start and do not look behind

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Congrats collegedude!
 

How does it work for doing another year of CaRMS? Are you just another medical student? Does your faculty have to allow it?
 

I find that to be a really uninformed section of this process - many of us will never encounter it and don't need to know. But when you're applying to competitive specialties, I think its important to know the Plan B, C, D, etc.

 

So here's how I understand the options if you don't match:

1) Do second round, rank something and get it --> residency

2) Do second round, rank nothing/rank but get nothing --> still unmatched --> don't graduate and do another year of med school --> match the following year

3) Do second round, rank nothing/rank but get nothing --> still unmatched --> no residency (TERRIFYING) 

 

For #2 - do schools have to let you do another year? How does this work?

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Congrats collegedude!

 

How does it work for doing another year of CaRMS? Are you just another medical student? Does your faculty have to allow it?

 

I find that to be a really uninformed section of this process - many of us will never encounter it and don't need to know. But when you're applying to competitive specialties, I think its important to know the Plan B, C, D, etc.

 

So here's how I understand the options if you don't match:

1) Do second round, rank something and get it --> residency

2) Do second round, rank nothing/rank but get nothing --> still unmatched --> don't graduate and do another year of med school --> match the following year

3) Do second round, rank nothing/rank but get nothing --> still unmatched --> no residency (TERRIFYING) 

 

For #2 - do schools have to let you do another year? How does this work?

 

I don't think they have to do - but most do have some system in place. Makes sense as there is roughly 10% (give or take) that go unmatched. Far too many to not have some sort of a plan. 

 

Now that plan doesn't have to involve you getting to do all these electives in the area that originally interested you. I think that is an important point. For instance at two of the schools I know of well that following year is basically designed to get you to match to something, which clear means there is a strong focus on family medicine (you can imagine people not going for family medicine in round 2 and still going unmatched - very likely scenario - ultimately having a meeting where there is a clear focus the raw numbers and a push for that field). You cannot just go off and do an entire year of general surgery observerships for instance. It also has to work within the resource limitations of the schools which already has elective and core students - this is particularly important as relatively speaking we have a lot more students floating around than we used to and that does not give schools a lot of room to move. You certainly are not going to be at a higher priority than those that are during doing their core studies. The schools will try to work with you to come up with some sort of a plan but they can only do so much.

 

The timing is also a bit of a concern - after all you don't find out the 2nd round match results until April. As we all know setting up electives even in the best of scenarios takes a lot of time. with the CARMS apps due the following year in november there is only  about 6 months to play with anyway and the summer as usual has a bit of a slow down in it. My point is there is a lot less time than you might immediately think. 

 

I don't think that 2 and 3 are actually separate - the second round match results are out well before graduation. In both cases of 2 and 3 at the places I know of are treated the same.

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I believe that my medical faculty allows unmatched students to delay graduation, and hence, not writing LMCC and not finishing their last core mandatory rotation.

For the next year, the unmatched student has an entire year to do electives, while covered by the malpractice insurance of our school. In essence, you are still a medical student, a clinical clerk. You don't get priorities over other medical students for homeschool electives, but they do advise you to do electives in other schools and apply early.

The faculty's guidance counsellor does not push for the unmatched students to apply for family medicine in the following year, but they do suggest you to backup, or apply broadly.

I believe that the majority of Candian medical schools are very flexible, and work around what the unmatched student prefers in term of applying to CaRMS the following year. 

 

All the Canadian Medical Schools want their students to be matched, and they do their best to help the unmatched students (IMO).

 

If the student decides to graduate this year, then the faculty suggests them to do a clinical master or research projects in their speciality of interest.

 

Congrats collegedude!
 

How does it work for doing another year of CaRMS? Are you just another medical student? Does your faculty have to allow it?
 

I find that to be a really uninformed section of this process - many of us will never encounter it and don't need to know. But when you're applying to competitive specialties, I think its important to know the Plan B, C, D, etc.

 

So here's how I understand the options if you don't match:

1) Do second round, rank something and get it --> residency

2) Do second round, rank nothing/rank but get nothing --> still unmatched --> don't graduate and do another year of med school --> match the following year

3) Do second round, rank nothing/rank but get nothing --> still unmatched --> no residency (TERRIFYING) 

 

For #2 - do schools have to let you do another year? How does this work?

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not in that problem obviously so not fully aware of all the details - I know programs can change relatively rapidly so it could be newer stuff. 

 

whatever it is I know it will be addressed. I have been told you simply have to have a psych program to run a medical school to start with so that is a pretty powerful motivator. 

 

I am always more interested in the programs response to this sort of thing almost more than the actual eval. 

Any updates on this? Curious how the program is going to address issues!  I remember the Ottawa neurosurgery program losing accreditation. Hearsay its residents moving to Memorial University to finish their training. 

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not in that problem obviously so not fully aware of all the details - I know programs can change relatively rapidly so it could be newer stuff. 

 

whatever it is I know it will be addressed. I have been told you simply have to have a psych program to run a medical school to start with so that is a pretty powerful motivator. 

 

I am always more interested in the programs response to this sort of thing almost more than the actual eval. 

Any updates on this? Curious how the program is going to address issues!  I remember the Ottawa neurosurgery program losing accreditation. Hearsay its residents moving to Memorial University to finish their training. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey guys, as someone from French-speaking medical school in Quebec.I would like to jump in here! :)

For McGill residency programs, it depends really on your program. If you are interested in  Family & Internal& Psychiatry (i.e: Primary care), I think that some basic French is required. A lot of Francophone speaking patients do expect to receive their medical care in French. During your residency interviews, the staff will ask you questions in French, to know if you have some basic foundation of French. I think that they key is to show that you are willing to learn a new language. However, if you are applying to radiology, more surgical specialties, you can get by without any prior knowledge of French before starting residency.

 

A lot of UdeMontreal students do go to McGill for residency (30+ or more per year), I personally won't call it a move to ''English Canada''. McGill is a Quebec Medical School, being in the same city and for our bilingual colleagues, it is actually pretty convenient. Also, in Quebec, we do have a ''PREM'' and ''PEM'' system, that only allows Quebec graduating physicians to get jobs in Quebec, and I do believe that the majority of my fellow colleagues do intend to stay in Quebec for their career.

 

TLDR: only a few students in Quebec French med schools (10-20 per year) go to English Canada for residency. Most of the time, because they did their undergrad in English Canada or have family in English Canada. McGill is a different story. Also, in French schools, our faculties restrict the number of electives we could take in the same discipline (i.e: no more than 3 electives in ENT), and the number of electives one could do OUTSIDE of province. In essence, you will less likely to see a medical student from Quebec doing elective elsewhere in Canada. Onsite electives do matter for CaRMS! :)

Can you elaborate more on this? I'm in an Ontario med school, but interested in doing my residency in Quebec. Would I still be able to find a job/practice as a physician in Quebec after finishing my residency?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey, here is the number of unfilled spots after the second iteration: http://www.carms.ca/pdfs/3TdWbc87jrB_R1_2_OverviewByDiscipline_EN.pdf

I don't know what happened past the 2nd iteration,  do applicants contact the program directors to set up interviews?

 

yeah....errr....that is some very slim left overs there. Only 6 spots at english speaking schools(?). Mostly family medicine in Quebec (59 out of the 64 spots). 

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The unfilled spots after the 2nd round this year is pretty typical. There's rarely much in English-speaking Canada, always a ton of FM spots in Quebec.

 

Anyone knows when the 2017 R1 match reports will be released?

 

Usually ends up being in June when the full report is released, though the CCME presentation at the end of April should provide some comprehensive preliminary data.

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