CaRMS 2024 -- Discussions

[dooogs]

I’m wondering if any residents could discuss what factors they considered when ranking and which factors ended up not being as important after the match ?

[an90000]

How much should I be reading into interviewers telling me "good luck with CaRMS". It makes me feel like they are saying I won't match there especially when I hear other people have been told "we'd love to have you here" or some form of that. 

[abcd1288]

18 minutes ago, an90000 said:

How much should I be reading into interviewers telling me "good luck with CaRMS". It makes me feel like they are saying I won't match there especially when I hear other people have been told "we'd love to have you here" or some form of that. 

I don't think it matters tbh. They have to reconvene as a group to make the ranking after interview is over. I think it's a nice gesture to say "Good luck with CaRMS" or "we'd love to have you here"

[AnonymousTree]

59 minutes ago, an90000 said:

How much should I be reading into interviewers telling me "good luck with CaRMS". It makes me feel like they are saying I won't match there especially when I hear other people have been told "we'd love to have you here" or some form of that. 

I wouldn't read into it much. In either instance, they are probably trying to offer words of support rather than convey your chances of matching there.

[ChemPetE]

4 hours ago, an90000 said:

How much should I be reading into interviewers telling me "good luck with CaRMS". It makes me feel like they are saying I won't match there especially when I hear other people have been told "we'd love to have you here" or some form of that. 

I just tell every student that.

 

and re another post - yes, we have two sequential days of interviews, the rank list is finalized the same day immediately following the last interview. It’s a long day for the program (but exciting- our candidates this year are great!)

[dooogs]

15 minutes ago, ChemPetE said:

I just tell every student that.

 

and re another post - yes, we have two sequential days of interviews, the rank list is finalized the same day immediately following the last interview. It’s a long day for the program (but exciting- our candidates this year are great!)

Do you find that pre interview rank still matters a lot ? Isn’t it hard to differentiate between interviewees

[ChemPetE]

7 minutes ago, dooogs said:

Do you find that pre interview rank still matters a lot ? Isn’t it hard to differentiate between interviewees

It is hard

 

we weight about equally pre and post interview

[bearded frog]

On 1/22/2024 at 6:20 AM, desserts said:

Is it just me or are the interviews kinda short? Not sure if they just don't like me or if this is the norm lol 

Some places weight heavily prior to interview and the interview is to just make sure you're somewhat normal.

[lol_wut]

1 hour ago, bearded frog said:

Some places weight heavily prior to interview and the interview is to just make sure you're somewhat normal.

Any thoughts on how this works for Psych? Feeling absolutely deflated after my Psych interviews. Not one of them felt good  I’m overthinking all my answers. 

[HoopDreams]

9 hours ago, dooogs said:

I’m wondering if any residents could discuss what factors they considered when ranking and which factors ended up not being as important after the match ?

I can only speak for myself and share my experience with you.
I was hesitant between two programs within the same city :

(1) Program 1 : Strong reputation, renowed researchers, international recognition in the field, PD that was always nice to me but also very detached, rotation experience was sub-par since staff were always too busy, interview that felt quite rushed and impersonal.

(2) Program 2 : Lower reputation, not really known outside of the country, lovely PD that seemed extremly warm and welcoming, rotation experience that was amazing because of a lof of teaching, interview felt like they really cared about me.

I was hesitant for a few weeks for my ranking.
I ultimately chose program #2 and have not had a single regret ever.

In my opinion :

• You are choosing colleagues, bosses, mentors that you will be 'married' to for the next five years. Make sure that their personalities fit with yours. 
• Reputation is not important in Canada since you will have almost the same opportunities everywhere. Sure, that super competitive fellowship may be easier to get if you work with this famous MD at UofT or McGill, but no one cares that much about it if you are looking to practice here.
• No matter how amazing some of your staff and program directors seem to be on paper, no matter how amazing their reseach projects you could be part of are, if they are not available and can't make time for you and teach you, it is absolutely useless. 
• Location does matter since you want to be close to your loved ones. Five years can fly by but it's also nice to have a good support system around you.
• Ask current and former residents that are not officially part of recruitement process about the programs. During the CaRMs social activities, all the residents from the program I ranked second were telling me how happy they were. I eventually got to learn that there were facing major issues in terms of support and teaching.

Best of luck !

[Bobthebuilder]

8 hours ago, lol_wut said:

Any thoughts on how this works for Psych? Feeling absolutely deflated after my Psych interviews. Not one of them felt good  I’m overthinking all my answers. 

Hmmmm, you are overthinking shit ?!

PSYCHIATRY YOU GO !!

[dooogs]

9 hours ago, HoopDreams said:

I can only speak for myself and share my experience with you.
I was hesitant between two programs within the same city :

(1) Program 1 : Strong reputation, renowed researchers, international recognition in the field, PD that was always nice to me but also very detached, rotation experience was sub-par since staff were always too busy, interview that felt quite rushed and impersonal.

(2) Program 2 : Lower reputation, not really known outside of the country, lovely PD that seemed extremly warm and welcoming, rotation experience that was amazing because of a lof of teaching, interview felt like they really cared about me.

I was hesitant for a few weeks for my ranking.
I ultimately chose program #2 and have not had a single regret ever.

In my opinion :

• You are choosing colleagues, bosses, mentors that you will be 'married' to for the next five years. Make sure that their personalities fit with yours. 
• Reputation is not important in Canada since you will have almost the same opportunities everywhere. Sure, that super competitive fellowship may be easier to get if you work with this famous MD at UofT or McGill, but no one cares that much about it if you are looking to practice here.
• No matter how amazing some of your staff and program directors seem to be on paper, no matter how amazing their reseach projects you could be part of are, if they are not available and can't make time for you and teach you, it is absolutely useless. 
• Location does matter since you want to be close to your loved ones. Five years can fly by but it's also nice to have a good support system around you.
• Ask current and former residents that are not officially part of recruitement process about the programs. During the CaRMs social activities, all the residents from the program I ranked second were telling me how happy they were. I eventually got to learn that there were facing major issues in terms of support and teaching.

Best of luck !

Thank you! How about cost of living and larger vs smaller program. I am a bit worried about moving to a higher cost of living city - I don't feel good about not being able to pay any debt off or very little. Is it not that much of an issue once you graduate ?

[dooogs]

12 hours ago, bearded frog said:

Some places weight heavily prior to interview and the interview is to just make sure you're somewhat normal.

It's so hard to imagine how ppl are rated based on answers - unless u say something totally out of wack. I feel like most applicants say similar things....? How do they differentiate between applicants? Is it mostly vibes?

[Bambi]

Cost of living is the least important factor, if it is a factor, to consider in terms of ranking. Notwithstanding my high LOC, I was able to pay it off quite quickly once I entered practice. Remember, your income will not be inconsiderable.

Vibe, personality is quite important as interviewers want to select applicants who will be a good fit!

[attempt2]

It was not something that I had paid attention to initially, but think carefully about call and off service rotation expectations, as there can be great differences between programs. For example is that there is one 5 year program with 1 in 4 call for internal med, even when you are off service, throughout all PGY 1-2, whereas the same specialty elsewhere in the country has only 6 months of call in PGY 1 during off service, then none in PGY 2. Both are in highly desired cities.

[HoopDreams]

7 hours ago, dooogs said:

Thank you! How about cost of living and larger vs smaller program. I am a bit worried about moving to a higher cost of living city - I don't feel good about not being able to pay any debt off or very little. Is it not that much of an issue once you graduate ?

Do not think of the cost of living. There is some variability in terms of housing costs, but you still get a salary and have access to a generous LOC. Let's say that one city is way more expensive and ends up costing you 500-750$ more every month, we are talking about an additional cost of 6-9K$ per year or 30-45K$ over five years. Your personal and professional fulfillment, your mental health, your happiness and being surrounded by people that you get along with is is worth way way way more than that. You will make that up in about 3 months as a staff. 

[dooogs]

57 minutes ago, HoopDreams said:

Do not think of the cost of living. There is some variability in terms of housing costs, but you still get a salary and have access to a generous LOC. Let's say that one city is way more expensive and ends up costing you 500-750$ more every month, we are talking about an additional cost of 6-9K$ per year or 30-45K$ over five years. Your personal and professional fulfillment, your mental health, your happiness and being surrounded by people that you get along with is is worth way way way more than that. You will make that up in about 3 months as a staff. 

How about like if the new place is like 25k a year more? I'm also worried about debt repayment and adding more debt because I know that as a new staff you do make good money but you're also taxed a lot. Is it still repayable pretty quickly?

[HoopDreams]

1 hour ago, dooogs said:

How about like if the new place is like 25k a year more? I'm also worried about debt repayment and adding more debt because I know that as a new staff you do make good money but you're also taxed a lot. Is it still repayable pretty quickly?

Don't pick your residency program based on money.
It is a very bad idea.
Saving 5K, 25K or even 100K over 5 years means nothing.
I know a ton of residents that would give up more than that to switch programs because they are in a toxic environement, overworked, not getting teaching, not fitting in, on burn out leaves, etc.
 

First, because you are not in residency to save for your retirement, but rather to learn, grown and build your future career. If you pay back some debt, then great, but it is not the main focus.

Second, because there isn't that much variability between cities in Canada. Even in the improbable event that your cost of living is 2K$ more every month between two cities, simply adapt your life : have a roomate, commute to work, eat at the hospital. 

Third, you have a grace period after you finish residency/fellowship to start repaying your LOC. It is usually 24 months once you have completed all of your training, including additional and extended training. Once that 24 months passes, no one will ask you to repay it immediately. You will simply have to start paying back the capital, just like a mortgage, on top of your interests. Let's pretend that you had a LOC of 350 000$ completely maxed out at the end of residency at today's interest rate (highest rate in the last decade), you are looking at monthly payments of about 5-6K$ a month.  Even in that context, you will be fine.

[dooogs]

12 minutes ago, HoopDreams said:

Don't pick your residency program based on money.
It is a very bad idea.
Saving 5K, 25K or even 100K over 5 years means nothing.
I know a ton of residents that would give up more than that to switch programs because they are in a toxic environement, overworked, not getting teaching, not fitting in, on burn out leaves, etc.
 

First, because you are not in residency to save for your retirement, but rather to learn, grown and build your future career. If you pay back some debt, then great, but it is not the main focus.

Second, because there isn't that much variability between cities in Canada. Even in the improbable event that your cost of living is 2K$ more every month between two cities, simply adapt your life : have a roomate, commute to work, eat at the hospital. 

Third, you have a grace period after you finish residency/fellowship to start repaying your LOC. It is usually 24 months once you have completed all of your training, including additional and extended training. Once that 24 months passes, no one will ask you to repay it immediately. You will simply have to start paying back the capital, just like a mortgage, on top of your interests. Let's pretend that you had a LOC of 350 000$ completely maxed out at the end of residency at today's interest rate (highest rate in the last decade), you are looking at monthly payments of about 5-6K$ a month.  Even in that context, you will be fine.

Thank you very much for the information. It can be hard to imagine actually making money after being a student for so long!

[9878]

Anyone else feel like they are not doing well on interviews? 

[DrOtter]

1 hour ago, 9878 said:

Anyone else feel like they are not doing well on interviews? 

I defs feel this way too, but not so much as a whole but more with certain interviews/questions/stations.

A few instances though I could just tell that the vibe was off between me and the interviewer, or the questions were just really strangely worded for what they were asking.

Trying really hard not to overthink it though! 

[lollollol]

should we rank schools we didn't get an interview at? Does this impact anything at all

[abcd1288]

30 minutes ago, lollollol said:

should we rank schools we didn't get an interview at? Does this impact anything at all

 

No penalty to rank schools that you didn't interview at, though it is unlikely you will match there since they won't rank you

[DrOtter]

18 hours ago, 9878 said:

Anyone else feel like they are not doing well on interviews? 

LOL just had my worst interview this cycle so far.

One of the interviewers just kept rushing me to the next qs and cutting me off. I couldn't fully finish any of my thoughts.

Then we ended 10 minutes early - FOR A 30 MINUTE INTERVIEW.

I tried to ask a question about the program but it was still awkward at the end when we had like 6 mins to spare.

This is gonna live rent-free in my head for the foreseeable future lol 

[dooogs]

53 minutes ago, DrOtter said:

LOL just had my worst interview this cycle so far.

One of the interviewers just kept rushing me to the next qs and cutting me off. I couldn't fully finish any of my thoughts.

Then we ended 10 minutes early - FOR A 30 MINUTE INTERVIEW.

I tried to ask a question about the program but it was still awkward at the end when we had like 6 mins to spare.

This is gonna live rent-free in my head for the foreseeable future lol 

Really puts into perspective other interviews once you have a bad one lol. I’d know