RepresentativeSalad

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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.

My impression has been quite the opposite, the sites at UBC that I've talked to residents about seem to have fewer call shifts than many other programs!

I'm less worried about rental costs, and more worried about rental availability. With the late Match Day this year, there isn't a ton of time to find somewhere to live before July 1. Do programs typically have support to help residents find housing in areas with limited rental availability?

Hey friends! I wanted to start a thread about the rental markets across Canada. As we start to think about our rank order list, especially for applicants applying to some of the more rural areas, it might be an important consideration! Please feel free to add in your province/area (or other regions you're familiar with) and any insight you might have re: housing options, affordability, etc.

It probably depends on your school's curriculum structure, but I would say 4th (easiest) > 1st > 2nd > 3rd (hardest) IMO, 4th is easiest because you're done exams (especially if you write LMCC early), don't have regular lectures, and are choosing your electives based on your interests/preferences (*caveat: CaRMS stress is another beast, so I considered my rankings to be based on medical school content/rotations alone). 3rd is hardest because you're doing clerkship rotations with the most variable/long schedules, lectures, and studying/writing exams/OSCEs during the whole yea