two yr gap between med school and carms application

[futureortho]

I was wondering if you take a two year gap (because there is something I really really want to do in my life) between med school and residency, and dont apply to carms in any of those years , will programs consider you as if you have failed two years in a row at CARMS? do they disntiguish between applying and not getting in anywhere vs not applying at all? 

yes , I know this is not very advantageous but its something I really want to do and has to do with medicine (so its not like I will completely be forgetting my degree) thanks  !

[shikimate]

In the USA it wouldn't have been as a big problem as here. The problem here is ratio of seats is almost 1:1, so all else equal, the PD has more pressure to take a current year grad than a previous year grad.

Also if you don't apply to CaRMS at all, then I guess you wouldn't count towards that year's match rate, so in some sense you become "invisible" in the eyes of the administration. I would expect a lukewarm attitude if you seek their help applying 2 years later.

But if whatever you are doing is absolutely stunning and jaw dropping, like going to front lines to battle Ebola or some natural disaster, participating in breakthrough research, competing in big league sports, major political victory, biotech company going IPO, starring in acclaimed film, etc that may even be a plus.

 

[bearded frog]

Year of graduation is used as a flag, so you will be flagged as a "not-current-year" applicant. It's assumed that this category is almost entirely those that have gone unmatched in previous years, so you run the risk of your application being auto-red flagged before you have the chance to explain. The carms system does not show results of previous attempts so schools would have no way of knowing that you have not applied at all, other than if they have internal systems showing you haven't applied to their program before, at least.

Now without knowing what this very important thing is, you should understand that unless as shikimate says it's literally curing cancer, the fact that you took up a partially taxpayer-funded medical school spot and then chose not to actually practice medicine may be frowned upon, especially for starting a buisness or doing sports or something else with personal gain. Doing a specific highly targeted research project or some non-profit thing may be looked upon better.

I would suggest discussing your plan with some trusted mentors because worst case scenario you may have a real struggle when (if?) you want to apply to match in the future. (edit: especially a compeditive field like ortho) You will need contemporary reference letters explaining why it was such a good idea to take time off before residency at the very least.

[offmychestplease]

ortho is one of the least competitve fields in medicine

[frenchpress]

You may have more luck and less regrets trying to seek a leave of absence from your program (although 2 years is a long time), either from your current school, before carms, and thereby delaying graduation, or from your residency program once you match. 

[bearded frog]

21 hours ago, offmychestplease said:

ortho is one of the least competitve fields in medicine

this is false... its in the middle of the pack but on the compeditive side of the median specialty.

In 2021 there was 1.3 applicants for every spot (blue line on first graph) and only 75% of first choice applicants match (second graph):

[bearded frog]

18 hours ago, frenchpress said:

You may have more luck and less regrets trying to seek a leave of absence from your program (although 2 years is a long time), either from your current school, before carms, and thereby delaying graduation, or from your residency program once you match. 

Almost no chance your med school would grant this, but possible for residency if it's research (or some sort of extended residency with periods of clinical and research time interspersed)

[Edict]

On 1/2/2022 at 12:37 PM, futureortho said:

I was wondering if you take a two year gap (because there is something I really really want to do in my life) between med school and residency, and dont apply to carms in any of those years , will programs consider you as if you have failed two years in a row at CARMS? do they disntiguish between applying and not getting in anywhere vs not applying at all? 

yes , I know this is not very advantageous but its something I really want to do and has to do with medicine (so its not like I will completely be forgetting my degree) thanks  !

What is this that you are doing? Some people do a masters degree and that really isn't a huge deal imo. Honestly, my opinion is that a lot of CaRMS is still relationship driven, if you are well liked and you have a good reason for going away to do something meaningful to your career, your mentors approve, PDs know etc. they'll take you in for CaRMS. Surgery is a small enough field that it is still relationship driven.

[PsychiaTube]

As others have mentioned, years since GRADUATION is a sizeable factor in CaRMS apps, and (probably slightly less so) so is Being a repeat CaRMS applicant.
Look into your school's procedure/options for delaying graduation - could do a 5th year of electives + CV padding/Research, but you'd be looking at another full year's tuition. I haven't looked into doing 2 years off - but maybe you could ask to do a 5th year then take a gap year before that? (ie 1x year tuition). Time away from clinical work (how rusty you are) is another, so if possible having electives in your year of application would be best (fresher and more credible references this way too).

If Ortho's the dream that you really want to make happen, you should probably do the STEPs and apply to the states too. It's a long road and even if you do everything perfect, you still may end up not matching/matching Ortho, so some real soul searching and cost/benefit scrutiny would be worth while (Surgical assist, sports med, PMR/Neuro/Neurosurg/Other surgical fields) depending on what you want out of Ortho. But I'm sure you didn't pose this question lightly.

Good luck, pulling for you!