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Data on successful resident transfers?


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hi everyone, i'm going through carms right now and am super confused about my rank list in terms of both specialty and location. i'm finding it really hard to make an informed decision because i haven't had electives in one of the specialties i'm applying to and also because of the lack of visiting electives. i think i'd be happy anywhere but that's just based on my limited impression of programs from virtual interviews, info sessions, talking to residents, etc. but also want to know more about the transfer process just in case.

does anyone know where i can find data on how many residents successfully transfer each year? or if there's been any discussion around possibly making transfers easier this year since all applicants are making decisions w/ very limited info? (maybe this is wishful thinking haha) if anyone has successfully transferred and can talk more about this, i would really appreciate it! 

 

edit: i applied to 3 specialties, one was a late decision like a month before carms was due and that's the one i'm most unsure about!

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I actually just looked into this:

Cole's notes is just over 1% of residents (150-200) transfer per year as of 2016 as per AFMC and it's going down. For context there are roughly 3500 PGY1s each year but those are transfers across all residents (~13000). According to the RDoC survey, a third of residents have considered transfer, but they didn't ask and there is no data available about how many actually applied to transfer, so we cannot know the actual success rate for those who apply to transfer, but from the AFMC's reports they consider it too challenging to transfer and they note that ~70 PGY1s apply for a new position in the second round of CaRMS as an alternative method of transfer.

I haven't heard anything about making transfers easier this year, just that every year both AFMC and RDoC talk about it being one of their priorities. I would not consider transferring as a reasonable options to get around CaRMS. Only rank programs/disciplines that you could see yourself finishing residency in. Anecdotally it's easier to transfer from more to less compeditive specialties, which seems logical. I have heard of family medicine programs generally being accommodating to royal college residents who found they were unhappy in their current discipline, but transferring from say psych at one school to psych at another school (even when it's to be close to family/a SO) is far less common, unless the SO/family member is a resident at that program who can reach out on their behalf directly to the program director, which is the only time's I've seen it happen.

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I think so? I'm not sure since I personally don't know anyone who has done it. In the states you usually have to give up your spot so its a risky gamble. Don't know if that's the case in Canada. You do need to have the support of your own program though because you need a letter of recommendation from your program director saying that you're a good resident looking for a different field, as opposed to a bad resident who got fired and is now trying to get in again, etc.

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17 hours ago, CaRMS2021 said:

How would this even work with the current program? If they match they leave, if they don't match they stay?

Pretty much. I'm in one of the most heavily transferred out of programs in Canada and we've lost about 30% of our residents in the last 8 years.

Also trying to transfer out, tried last year, gonna try this year. And, if that fails f*** it I'm going to try the US. The Royal College Pass rate is low and there is nothing redeeming about this program. Already wasted 2 years of my life here. 

Also, some "less desirable" schools in Canada will refuse any sort of non-CaRMS transfers due to the extreme rate of attrition they have, even for family medicine. 

You know which 3 I'm talking about

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1 hour ago, GolfTangoFoxtrotOscar said:

Pretty much. I'm in one of the most heavily transferred out of programs in Canada and we've lost about 30% of our residents in the last 8 years.

Also trying to transfer out, tried last year, gonna try this year. And, if that fails f*** it I'm going to try the US. The Royal College Pass rate is low and there is nothing redeeming about this program. Already wasted 2 years of my life here. 

Also, some "less desirable" schools in Canada will refuse any sort of non-CaRMS transfers due to the extreme rate of attrition they have, even for family medicine. 

You know which 3 I'm talking about

Honestly I don't. Which 3?

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On 3/26/2021 at 5:59 AM, GolfTangoFoxtrotOscar said:

Pretty much. I'm in one of the most heavily transferred out of programs in Canada and we've lost about 30% of our residents in the last 8 years.

Also trying to transfer out, tried last year, gonna try this year. And, if that fails f*** it I'm going to try the US. The Royal College Pass rate is low and there is nothing redeeming about this program. Already wasted 2 years of my life here. 

Also, some "less desirable" schools in Canada will refuse any sort of non-CaRMS transfers due to the extreme rate of attrition they have, even for family medicine. 

You know which 3 I'm talking about

Is there any data on which residency programs have the highest attrition rates? Or is this kind of information impossible to know unless you are in the system (word of mouth).

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On 3/27/2021 at 11:22 PM, jb24 said:

Is there any data on which residency programs have the highest attrition rates? Or is this kind of information impossible to know unless you are in the system (word of mouth).

Probably one of the quickest and dirtiest ways is seeing which programs have a discrepancy between listed residents on their website and the expected number from the last 4-5 years of CaRMS match results. Check the seats available after second round CaRMS the last 4-5 years and the number of positions offered in the program descriptions. 

Bad programs usually have a greater than 20% discrepancy.

Note, this can be effected by people failing royal college exams as well. 

 

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7 hours ago, GolfTangoFoxtrotOscar said:

Probably one of the quickest and dirtiest ways is seeing which programs have a discrepancy between listed residents on their website and the expected number from the last 4-5 years of CaRMS match results.

Very few programs post regularly updated accurate lists of their residents. I did some math to see if we could see for IM since I thought eveyrone applies in R3 but maybe some in R4? Cause the numbers don't add up and they don't separate it out to make clear.

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