RepresentativeSalad

Definitely do not consolidate your loans on to your LOC if there's a good chance that you'll be eligible for some form of debt forgiveness. Furthermore, you can apply to have your payment period extended to, and therefore make smaller payments throughout residency and to leave a larger sum in the loan to be covered by those debt forgiveness opportunities (for example, if you're going to make use of the rural debt forgiveness program that pays $8k annually up to $40k, you would want to keep as much $ as possible in your federal loan to have it covered by the debt forgiveness program rather

Came here to say the same thing. At most schools, there is a threshold for how many failed exam is too many, and once that is surpassed the discussion around leaving the program happens. Many students fail an exam (or two) during medical without any serious repercussions, other than being required to remediate the failed competencies.

I think that the nature of CaRMS is that most people end up semi happy, some end up unhappy, and few end up with their perfect scenario. I too matched to my 2nd choice. My first choice would have meant being able to stay in the same rural town as my partner, who is non-med but has a career with even less flexibility to move locations than I have in residency (LOL). Instead, I am moving even more rural, further from my partner, further from my family, and now needing to find a new home and pay rent in addition to my partner paying rent at his location, purchase all new furniture, etc. just t

It varies from program to program. Reach out to upper years with similar interests/residents who have matched into the specialty that you're aiming for. They can provide more insight into what the programs across Canada emphasize (e.g., some want lots of research, some want electives done at that school/program [covid restrictions permitting, of course], some want strong extra curricular involvement). Set yourself up for success early by getting involved in extra curriculars and research so that you can keep your options open down the road.

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I'd highly recommend starting to look now. Decent apartments in the downtown core don't last long, and undergraduate students will be starting to end leases in the next month or two, so it's really the perfect time to claim a good spot!

FWIW, I was also scoring 60-70s on the MCC practice tests and passed the MCCQE1 on first try. Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great!!

Is there anyone on here who didn't go with RBC? If so, what factors played into your decision? Who did you end up going with?

Catlady403, thank you for sharing your experience. I agree that it is important for incoming students to see both sides of the coin! After reading your reply, I wonder how much influence program structure has on comfort with the foundational science material. The first 4-6 weeks of my program were basic/introductory sciences as a unit that was intended to bring everyone up to speed on the foundational knowledge we would need for the technical medicine we would learn moving forward. Perhaps the OP's best bet would be to talk to current M1's in the program they'll be starting to see what

We don't have a "summer" between M3 and M4 at my school, we just go straight through those two years. I wrote during the first elective block in the fall of M4! I don't think there's any downside to doing this. If you fail, it gives you another opportunity to write in the spring and still have it done before starting residency so you're not trying to juggle studying and residency after July 1st! The one downside to writing in M3/M4 year is the scheduling aspect. A number of my classmates wrote during this same time frame, and just booked weekend exam slots, or used a week of vaca

1) Get involved with extracurriculars, student council, intramurals, or whatever you enjoy during pre-clerkship. Clerkship is a busy time, and by then it can be harder (but not impossible) to get involved with extracurriculars that will strengthen your CaRMS application when the time comes. 2) Keep your options open in pre-clerkship and don't narrow down your specialty interests too soon. I was planning on applying to a surgical specialty, honed in on that early, and then realized in clerkship that there was a non-surgical specialty that I enjoyed a lot more. I may have realized this s

I agree with most of the comments above! I took 1.5 months off to just relax before medical school and definitely have no regrets about it. Taking time to chill, catch up on chores/hobbies/whatever you enjoy, etc. is really refreshing before starting a busy program. I also didn't have a ton of recent bio/chem prior to medical school, and I don't feel like there was anything I was behind on or slower to learn because of it. If you really do feel inclined to study before starting, anatomy/basic physiology would probably be the highest yield (but also VERY realistic to learn during

I continued studying after our final clerkship exam and wrote the MCCQE1 6 weeks later. I used mostly Online Med Ed to study (supplementing topics I felt weaker in), and reviewed Canadian screening/treatment guidelines for the common things (e.g., diabetes, HTN, cervical cancer, etc.). I also purchased a few of the MCC practice exams, which I found helpful to familiarize with the CDM format.

Excited and nervous! 22 days!!

I used Online Med Ed (and TO Notes/UpToDate/Google here and there for areas I felt I needed a quick overview on, but not extensively). I did a few of the MCC practice tests (2 MCQ, 3 CDM --> mostly just to familiarize myself with the CDM format). Found UWorld Q bank to be far too detailed and didn't bother with it.