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demonstrating knowledge of/interest in the program during interviews


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hi everyone, i've had several carms interviews in the past week and am so confused about how to integrate my knowledge of/interest in the program into my interviews if they don't ask me about this. is it absolutely necessary to "tie your answers back to the program"? particularly for FM interviews where they are so short and have a list of questions to get through? any advice is greatly appreciated! thank you!

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If the questions are brief and specific then you will not be expected. But if the questions are "tell us about yourself" or "why do you want to be an family doctor" then these answers should ideally be answering "what is it about me that makes an excellent applicant, a great fit for this program, and someone they should rank to match" or "what is it about our program that makes it the ideal path for your journey to becoming a family doctor", if you kinda get what I mean.

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Personally, I made a chart comparing all the different programs for the specialty I applied to. I gathered all the reliable information I could, such as unique features (e.g. ability to integrate a master's degree during residency training), number of residents in the program, info about the PD, training locations, options to do away electives. The info was from places like their CaRMS page, program website, approved program/resident blog posts. I stayed away from forum hearsay, as honestly it's too high-risk to take the things on here as facts. A lot of the intel on this site is true, but then ya also have to consider whether it's something the program wants people to know about, lol. The last thing you want is to bring up something and be wrong or offensive. 

In general, you can/should definitely mention "why" you want that particular program but not overdo it or artificially weave it into your answers.

Good luck OP!

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9 hours ago, bearded frog said:

If the questions are brief and specific then you will not be expected. But if the questions are "tell us about yourself" or "why do you want to be an family doctor" then these answers should ideally be answering "what is it about me that makes an excellent applicant, a great fit for this program, and someone they should rank to match" or "what is it about our program that makes it the ideal path for your journey to becoming a family doctor", if you kinda get what I mean.

thank you, this is really helpful! i didn't do exactly this in my first few interviews and i think i have a better idea of what to focus on now :)

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8 hours ago, garlic said:

Personally, I made a chart comparing all the different programs for the specialty I applied to. I gathered all the reliable information I could, such as unique features (e.g. ability to integrate a master's degree during residency training), number of residents in the program, info about the PD, training locations, options to do away electives. The info was from places like their CaRMS page, program website, approved program/resident blog posts. I stayed away from forum hearsay, as honestly it's too high-risk to take the things on here as facts. A lot of the intel on this site is true, but then ya also have to consider whether it's something the program wants people to know about, lol. The last thing you want is to bring up something and be wrong or offensive. 

In general, you can/should definitely mention "why" you want that particular program but not overdo it or artificially weave it into your answers.

Good luck OP!

thank you, this is really helpful! 

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