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Do residency evaluations matter?


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More for the senior residents and junior attendings on this site, compared to medical school, how important are the end of rotation evaluations in your experience? Like of course avoid red flags and be hard working, but is there value in trying to always go above and beyond like in medical school (for CaRMS).  I also value my work life balance, and consistently working myself like a dog is probably not the best thing to do either...bit of an epiphany while in the hospital during the time when my extended family is all enjoying their Christmas holiday together.

Thanks.

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49 minutes ago, jb24 said:

More for the senior residents and junior attendings on this site, compared to medical school, how important are the end of rotation evaluations in your experience? Like of course avoid red flags and be hard working, but is there value in trying to always go above and beyond like in medical school (for CaRMS).  I also value my work life balance, and consistently working myself like a dog is probably not the best thing to do either...bit of an epiphany while in the hospital during the time when my extended family is all enjoying their Christmas holiday together.

Thanks.

Not really important as in a report card, but you're probably going to want a letter of reference from your program director and other staff for your first job and your residency performance will likely be reflected in that (and obviously if you're hoping for a job at the same centre you trained at it will matter.)

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12 hours ago, bearded frog said:

Not really important as in a report card, but you're probably going to want a letter of reference from your program director and other staff for your first job and your residency performance will likely be reflected in that (and obviously if you're hoping for a job at the same centre you trained at it will matter.)

yeah that is the major "issue" - and you would be surprised how deep that program director reference goes. It is the obvious first person that gets called when you are looking for a job at any site for many fields. 

medicine.....really is a small universe. 

that doesn't mean you have to completely destroy yourself of course - it is a balance between the lifestyle you want, the field you chose (some fields have tight job markets and you can use any edge you can find), and whatever else is going on in your life. 

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It depends on your specialty. If you are going for an in house fellowship or want to stay around for a job, that'll affect things. If jobs and fellowship are hard to come by, that would matter even more. If your department is crumbling and you are getting job offers before you finish residency, then probably matters less.

Out in community it probably matters less, again depends on what your specialty is. You don't have to use people from your residency for reference, if you've done away electives and you did well. Better, you have an opportunity to start "fresh" if you are doing away electives, so if somebody haven't done well at their home program, it's a worthwhile consideration. If you make a good impression out in community a lot of paperwork and applications are more of a formality. Like if a place really wants you they'll convince the MAC to give you privilege even if your ref letters are mediocre or below. 

In the end if you pass your royal college or American board you're board certified. If somebody failed a couple of rotations and had to do an extra year, they're still certified at the end. 

Remember big picture = royal college exam. The worst is an A+ resident without issue who suddenly failed RC exam lol, that'll add some grey hairs to the PD and chair. 

Again it really varies with the local job market, some places and some specialties are so desperate they'll hire anybody. Some places wouldn't hire anyone without PhD and 2 fellowships.

Like my place have received PD evaluations of applicants that sounded like resident is average to slightly below average. We offered them anyways because we need people. Guess what? They already accepted job offer elsewhere. Goes to show you there are a lot of local factors in play.

Lastly, like I've said before, if you care about money, you bill the same if you are an average resident who is certified versus the BEST resident who is certified. Your provincial insurance plan doesn't really care. 

What specialty are you in? My place is having hard time recruiting for some positions and some departments are getting desperate. I'll link you up with the recruiter, drop me a DM.

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10 minutes ago, shikimate said:

 

Remember big picture = royal college exam. The worst is an A+ resident without issue who suddenly failed RC exam lol, that'll add some grey hairs to the PD and chair. 

 

 

Why would PD care if you fail RC exam? How does that affect them in any way? It's only the poor resident who will suffer, by having to re-write the damm exam.

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When 95%+ of residents pass the exam, the ones that fail really stand out, and become a big deal. It's like all your classmates match but you didn't match.

News spread fast, and people hear about "that" resident in "that" program that failed this year's exam. Job offers are rescinded, and then the news spread to community practice too.

It's worse when they fail twice in a roll. Don't laugh, it's happened. Just like there are people who go unmatched two years in a roll.

Some programs are forced to offer the failing resident another year of residency or "fellowship". That's money down the drain for the program. Each day the person hangs around the department is another day to remind the PD of the failure. I've seen med students who are doing another year because they didn't match. It's a weird feeling because most of their cohorts are R1 now and they don't really "belong" to your class either. It's the same feeling as a resident.

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As for anything in medicine, I don't think there is a black and white answer. It depends on the type of job, and your specialty.

In my case, I was a FM resident (non CCFP-EM) applying for EM jobs at hospitals where I have never rotated before, at places where I didn't know anyone. I can imagine that from their perspective, they want to know as much as possible how well an unknown candidate would be a good match for them. They also needed to make sure I was able to perform the job. Therefore, when applying, they all asked me for my evals, my CV, 2 LORs and references.

How much did the evals matter? I'm not too sure, but having good evals might help for your first job, but I'm sure it's not the most important thing. I've asked people from my departments how they trusted me to work there even though I've never been a resident there before. They told me they asked around in departments where I rotated before. I'm sure the latter mattered more. It's a very small world. People talk to each other behind your back for this kind of thing.

In fact, I'm pretty sure there are things way more important than evals for jobs as a staff. Departments chiefs want someone who will fit well with the team (click well with people), who works well in general (does the job well and responsibly), and is a good team player (like not being an A-hole, shares call schedule fairly), and ideally stay there.

All that to say, don't go above and beyond for evals during residency. Focus on your learning instead.

Once you're a staff, if you want to switch hospitals, they probably don't care that much anymore, but for your first job, they might very well ask for them.

 

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