Dumb Questions

[Guest kipper]

Do med students get paid while in residency?

What do students do during the first summer? Do they work at McDonalds or in the medical field?

I see MAC is 11 months a year. Are the rest 8 or 9? Is that why they are done in 3 vs 4 years or what?

After med school how much residency is required?

Does everyone get a position?

Thanks

[Guest strider2004]

First rule of med school: The only dumb question is the question that's not asked.

 

Do med students get paid while in residency?

Yes. And then they're no longer called med students, but residents. The income dpends on the year of residency and the province but tends to range from $40k in 1st year to $70k in 7th year, depending on the length of your specialty program.

 

What do students do during the first summer? Do they work at McDonalds or in the medical field?

They can do whatever they want. Many do work in medicine(ie research, observerships, pharmacy, nursing if that was their previous profession) while others do what the rest of summer students do. I had classmates who treeplanted for money in the summer. Others travelled around the globe for a month of so. What you do in the summer depends on your interests and your financial situation.

 

 

I see MAC is 11 months a year. Are the rest 8 or 9? Is that why they are done in 3 vs 4 years or what?

McMaster and Calgary are 3 year programs. To fulfill the adequate medical requisites, these programs have shorter summers than the 4 year programs. The rest are closer to 8 or 9 months of the year for the first 2 years. Between your 3rd and 4th year of medicine(clerkship), you don't get much of a summer, only a couple of weeks off no matter what school you attend.

 

After med school how much residency is required?

This varies from 2 to 10 years depending on what you want to do. You can finish family medicine in 2 years but if you want to be uber specialized in something, then expect to finish residency and then do a couple of years of fellowship on top of that. Fellowship often pays less than residency because it often isn't regulated by the provincial residency groups.

 

Does everyone get a position?

 

This depends on what you want to do. There will be enough residency spots for all the medical graduates(though they sometimes cut it close). However, there won't be enough plastic surgery spots for all the plastics keeners or enough ophtho spots or emerg spots. However if you want to do family medicine and don't care where in Canada you train, you will not have a problem finding a position. You also won't have a problem finding a job when you finish.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

I see MAC is 11 months a year. Are the rest 8 or 9? Is that why they are done in 3 vs 4 years or what?

 

Classes, exams, etc start either the last week of August or September and can take up until the first few weeks of June at UWO for 1st and 2nd year. The school year is therefore at least 9 months, maybe even 9.5. The term is not unlike High School.

 

Third year is a FULL 12 month year. No time off during the summer.

 

What do students do during the first summer? Do they work at McDonalds or in the medical field?

 

To add to my response above, I'd guess well over half my UWO classmates did something medicine related during the summer - either research, clinical electives (in Canada or abroad), or a paid rural summer studentship. Very few people worked other than pay for research/studentships (it's hard to find a 2 month job that will do anything but hurt your OSAP and bursary chances) while a few took the time just outright off, if they could afford it.

 

For myself and many of my UWO classmates, medical school was essentially a 12 month commitment, with a few weeks off here and there. . . I have to admit I don't feel our academic year was any shorter than either Calgary or Mac's. They just got out sooner.

[Guest physiology]

Hello Strider,

 

What residency + fellowship would require 10 years? That's crazy...I thought residencies + fellowships would go 8 years max. I guess if someone did a grad degree in between, it could go longer. Here's another question, if a resident were to pursue a PhD or MSc in residency, would they be paid as a resident?

 

Thanks!

Physio