U of A Surgery Residency Prep

[ABC]

Hey,

Thank you everyone for all the great info on here it is very much appreciated and helps many of us make an informed decision.

 

I think that I am interested in going into surgery (I know that I'll probably change my mind a million times) and would assume a number of factors (strong anatomy component, "traditional" school and a "traditional" area of medicine, etc.) of the U of A program would situate one well for successful CARMs matching.

 

Now I understand that I have no idea how the system works and these assumptions are based on hearsay from current med students and physicians. But I was wondering:

 

1) If personal incentive and effort are invested, would UofA be a good school for providing a solid foundation for a surgical residency compared to other schools.

 

2) Related to #1, I understand that all Canadian med schools are excellent and produce quality physicians but do particular schools provide opportunity for more successful matching in certain areas compared to others (ex. because U of A has the Heart Institute, would U of A grads match better to cardio due increased exposure, networking, stronger cardio-related references, etc)

 

Thanks a ton for the feedback and correction of my potentially misconstrued ideas. Good luck to all the candidates on the 15th.

 

Cheers

[ELA]

I think that you're right, that pretty much all schools across canada will provide you with a great education and so long as you put in the requisite work during your clerkship and electives you'll be able to match to any residency program in the country, but i think that on of the unique things about the U of A versus other programs that might give you an advantage in regards to surgery is our anatomy program.

 

We're of the the few med schools (aside from u of t, and UBC i think - correct me if i'm wrong) that still does full cadaveric dissections. during the first two years you'll be in the anatomy lab dissecting the relavent anatomy for which ever block that your doing. at the end of the two years you've pretty much dissected the entire human body your self.

 

this is pretty important for surgery since surgery is pretty much all about identifying structures and their relations to others. nothing really prepares you for this like actually peeling back the skin, digging through the organs and seeing the spatial relations for your self. definately more useful than having pre-dissected cadavers for you to puruse.

[Wut?]

1) I don't believe that the U of A provides you any additional advantage to applying over any other school. Yes, we are one of the few schools that still are fortunate enough to have cadaver dissections, which as ELA says, is great if you're an experiential learner, but I wouldn't say this translates to any sort of advantage during CaRMS.

 

2) School often show some preference to taking their own grads during CaRMS, but this is not a hard and fast rule, as evidenced by the CaRMS match statistics.

 

 

I'd say at this point, don't worry about CaRMS. It's a black box that you really don't need to start worrying about until the summer between second and third year.

[ploughboy]

We're of the the few med schools (aside from u of t, and UBC i think - correct me if i'm wrong) that still does full cadaveric dissections. during the first two years you'll be in the anatomy lab dissecting the relavent anatomy for which ever block that your doing.

 

UWO still does, as far as I know. Though you just can't tell with the kids these days...

 

Edit regarding the original post: if you're focused on a specific specialty and work toward it during your MD, your choice of Canadian school probably doesn't matter. In a three-year program you might have to use your away electives more judiciously than in a four-year program, but you're still gonna have to do all the usual things: be bright, be personable, show an interest (and a bit of knowledge) in your field and be willing to work hard.

 

You mentioned cards specifically in your original post. If CV surgery is what you're interested in, you shouldn't have any problem matching (based on current trends). Finding a job after the match may or may not be a problem...

[ABC]

Thanks for such quick and informative responses, you guys are great!

 

Very observant Ploughboy, I am interested in CV Surg, Peds particularly, and I know that the U of A is the largest center in Canada for both adult and child heart transplants. So with regard to Wut's comment ("School often show some preference to taking their own grads"), does that mean that it would be wise to attend U of A, allowing for easy observationship and exposure?

 

The reason I am asking these questions is that I interviewed at 5 schools, and although maybe presumptuous, I want to get an idea of my top choices so if I am fortunate enough to have to make a decision then I won't be panicking.

 

Its interesting you bring up the issue of needing to be more prudent about electives in a 3 yr prog, a major concern of mine about the U of C. I wish to do an elective in a developing country but worry about "wasting" the opportunity for CaRMS "prep." Conversely, in a four yr prog I would likely do the overseas stuff over a summer. Is this a valid consideration in deciding btw the 3 vrs 4?

 

Thank you for the enlightenment:) Cheers

[Wut?]

You could always do your CVS at any school and then go elsewhere for a fellowship. The peds part of CVS is done as a fellowship.

 

And yes, I'd say that would be a consideration in a 3 vs. 4 year program. 3 years, in my own opinion (and take it as that), allows for less leeway with respects to exploration of electives and different areas of medicine just by virtue of the clerkship being slightly shorter.

[A-Stark]

I don't think it matters where you go, but it certainly wouldn't hurt if you went to a school that was actually a CV Surg centre. That being said, it's probably a bit premature to focus on cardiac, especially peds, as I don't think you can be really sure that you'd be especially enamoured with congenital heart defects. Transplants are comparatively rare events - in Halifax they occur a couple times a year at most. Otherwise, there will be lots of CABGs, pacemakers/ICDs, valve repair/replacements, and... well, that's more or less it unless you get into vascular or thoracic work as well.

 

I don't know whether you interviewed at Dal, but several of the cardiac surgeons are very keen on having first-year elective students scrub in and assist with suturing, suction, and the like (something I'm considering for next year, but I'm not quite sure...).