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Clerkships, CaRMs, Choosing speciality, etc.


Guest Makunouchi

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Guest Makunouchi

Hi,

 

I don't have a strong idea what specialty I am interested in. (I also realize that even if some do, minds do change while in the program).

 

I was wondering if some of the current medical students could shed some light on their experiences in Calgary's program about choosing a speciality.

 

How has the 3-year program affected your ability to make your choices early (e.g. students probably use free time for shadowing)?

 

When do the electives actually start in relation to the mandatory rotations?

 

How far will you be into the electives/rotations when the CaRMs applications are due?

 

Thanks for your time!

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Guest Jerika81

Just thought I would bring this topic back to the top. I never responded because I can't really give good answers to questions about clerkship yet, but perhaps phantom8 or another 2nd/3rd year moderator can answer this thread too.

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Guest Makunouchi

Thanks for bumping the thread Jerika81.

 

I figured people were busy for exams or something right now.

 

Anyhow, for anyone who can help:

from what I gather in the schedule...

 

internal med - 12 wks

pediatrics 6wks

surgery 4 wks + 4 wks

ob/gyn 6 wks

psychiatry 6 wks

family med 4 wks

anesthesia 2 wks

electives 14 wks

 

in December you'd still be in mandatory rotations?

 

Are these in listed in the order that you complete them, or can electives be done earlier?

 

thanks!

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Guest Jerika81

Those are not listed in order. First of all, 4 weeks of your electives are the one you do in July after first year. Then I think you actually start clerkship with a 6 week elective (or more commonly 2x 3 weeks). Then you start your mandatory rotations which can be in a number of different orders depending on what your preference is(eg if you want to go in to surgery you can do your surgery rotation near the beginning) and your other 4 weeks of elective are slotted in for the most part when you prefer them, so possibly also before the CARMs deadline.

 

This is all the "impression" I have been given though since I won't actually know the details until this fall when we are given all the facts about clerkship, but I think it is for the most part accurate, hope it helps.

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Guest Makunouchi

Hi,

 

Jerika - thanks for the reply; that helps a lot.

 

Kirsteen - I'm still thinking about it... that's why I haven't posted in the 'who's in' thread! :)

 

edited to say 'thread' instead of 'file'

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Guest phantom8

Just to give a little bit more detail about the clerkship schedule and electives:

 

The order in which your mandatory rotations and electives are arranged really vary, depending on the schedule that you get. The majority of people will have 6 weeks of electives right at the start of clerkship (in March) and then the other 4 weeks can be at various other times. Some people only have a couple of weeks up electives up front, while other people can have all 10 weeks of electives in a row before starting their mandatory rotations.

 

In terms of "which schedule you get," we're given a list of 20+ schedules to rank, and you rank them in the order of which ones you like best, given your own interests and needs. The office will try to give you one of your top choices but if there's a lot of people wanting the same schedule, then it goes to a draw.

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Guest Jerika81

Likely the best schedule for any individual will have the rotations in areas they are most interested in (including electives) near the beginning so that they can get letters of recommendation from people in these areas before the CaRMs deadline.

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Guest Makunouchi

Great replies - thanks a bunch... helps a lot.

 

katwoman2003 - like Jerika mentioned, it depends on your interests and areas you would like to get exposed to early.

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Guest phantom8

As mentioned before, the main consideration when picking your rotation schedule is to make sure that your mandatory rotation in the specialty you're interested in will be done before the CaRMS application. Another consideration is if you want to do a super-competitive specialty, then you will want all of your elective time up front. If not, then it's not so important to have all your elective time early.

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