How to be competitive and match into Toronto from US Med School as Canadian citizen?

[jhenerose88]

Im an MS2 in the US from Toronto originally. I want to go back to Toronto for residency for most likely FM.

 

How do I become competitive to match back into Toronto? 

 

For example, in the US, program directors care about clinical rotation grades, step 2, research, and LOR's. While they dont care much about preclinical grades or volunteer.

 

What do Canadian program directors care about? 

 

Also, any recommendation on where, how, and when to do an elective in Toronto?

 

[shikimate]

connections, connections, CONNECTIONS.

As long as you don't have a red flag, electives and face time is most important. A lot of programs would rather rank a "good" candidate they know quite well, over someone who looks top notch on paper but they never ever met. Try to do as many electives at academically affiliated sites as possible and get LORs from those sites.

I doubt people really care about Step 2 grades.

[Supervenience]

4 hours ago, shikimate said:

connections, connections, CONNECTIONS.

As long as you don't have a red flag, electives and face time is most important. A lot of programs would rather rank a "good" candidate they know quite well, over someone who looks top notch on paper but they never ever met. Try to do as many electives at academically affiliated sites as possible and get LORs from those sites.

I doubt people really care about Step 2 grades.

While this is the case for many subspecialty programs and smaller programs, Toronto FM is actually more of an exception. It is a massive program split into 3 streams with a total of 16 sites as of this year. I don't know what the quotas for this year will be but I imagine it will be close to 100 CMG's and 20 IMG's. For a program of this size, there is a significantly diminished return on "connections" and face time. Having a strong application, meaning good reference letters, competitive FMProC, and good personal letters is probably the most important thing. 

[jhenerose88]

6 minutes ago, Supervenience said:

While this is the case for many subspecialty programs and smaller programs, Toronto FM is actually more of an exception. It is a massive program split into 3 streams with a total of 16 sites as of this year. I don't know what the quotas for this year will be but I imagine it will be close to 100 CMG's and 20 IMG's. For a program of this size, there is a significantly diminished return on "connections" and face time. Having a strong application, meaning good reference letters, competitive FMProC, and good personal letters is probably the most important thing. 

Would I be considered IMG? I’m current MS2 in US but from Toronto.

[Supervenience]

18 minutes ago, jhenerose88 said:

Would I be considered IMG? I’m current MS2 in US but from Toronto.

IIRC US grads are considered CMG's.

[jhenerose88]

5 hours ago, shikimate said:

connections, connections, CONNECTIONS.

As long as you don't have a red flag, electives and face time is most important. A lot of programs would rather rank a "good" candidate they know quite well, over someone who looks top notch on paper but they never ever met. Try to do as many electives at academically affiliated sites as possible and get LORs from those sites.

I doubt people really care about Step 2 grades.

Thank you. This is great advice.

 

If not Toronto, would I have an issue at matching anywhere in Ontario FM? Is it super competitive to match?

 

[jhenerose88]

54 minutes ago, Supervenience said:

While this is the case for many subspecialty programs and smaller programs, Toronto FM is actually more of an exception. It is a massive program split into 3 streams with a total of 16 sites as of this year. I don't know what the quotas for this year will be but I imagine it will be close to 100 CMG's and 20 IMG's. For a program of this size, there is a significantly diminished return on "connections" and face time. Having a strong application, meaning good reference letters, competitive FMProC, and good personal letters is probably the most important thing. 

Besides FMproc, is there another test I need to take? Like in US, there is step 1,2, etc... Do I need to take the canadian board exams before applying? If so, what are they called?

[Supervenience]

1 hour ago, jhenerose88 said:

Besides FMproc, is there another test I need to take? Like in US, there is step 1,2, etc... Do I need to take the canadian board exams before applying? If so, what are they called?

There are no Step exams, but there is an exam called the MCCQE. It is not technically a requirement to get into residency as a CMG, however you will need to do it at some point regardless, and most people complete it prior to residency.

[Edict]

On 12/3/2022 at 8:07 PM, jhenerose88 said:

Thank you. This is great advice.

 

If not Toronto, would I have an issue at matching anywhere in Ontario FM? Is it super competitive to match?

 

You probably won't, FM if you apply broadly generally isn't competitive. For local grads, who do tend to match well, Toronto FM tends to be a bit more competitive in the sense that people are less likely to be able to back up into FM, but people who wanted FM 1st choice almost always matched their first choice location. So, if you are a FM gunner, I think you'll be able to match Ontario FM and probably Toronto depending on your application. With that being said, I would apply broadly including outside of Ontario, FM is 2 years, it matters less where you do it, you can find a job anywhere in Canada after FM no matter where you did it.