Competitiveness of internal medicine

[UBCstu]

Hi everyone,

 

Just wondering if anyone had an idea about how competitive most internal programs across Canada are (ie- from the viewpoint of a Cdn grad)? How hard is it to match to programs like UBC without having an elective??

 

Ive noticed many programs accept IMGs... are programs choosing IMGs over CMGs or is that because they are unable to fill up spots with Cdns??

 

I set up my electives very broadly because I was unsure of my specialty of interest and only have 2 medicine subspecialty electives. Just wondering how hard itll be to get interviews across the country based on that??

[moo]

Medicine is not very competitive at all. Generally, if you want in, you can get in. In the US, Medicine is super easy to match into if you don't care about school/location. In Canada, it's a bit harder but if you've passed your rotations (never failed) and done reasonably and don't have horrible references, it's not too hard to get in. I actually knew a few people who transferred from FM into IM when I was a resident at UA and it was quite easy. I was also encouraged by one of my attendings to transfer into IM when I was doing my FM residency after I told him I really enjoyed the CTU rotation. Also there are almost always re-entry spots available if you want to go back to retrain after finishing FM or whatever else. One guy I talked to said it was pretty easy to get a re-entry position at UBC even after having been doing FM for 10 years.

[thebouque]

 

If you like medicine, IM might be a bad choice because of all of the paperwork and social work that gets in the way of medicine in general.

 

Well what specialty is good for you if you like ''medicine'' then?

[A-Stark]

So if you like money, IM is a bad choice because it is so uncertain.

 

If you like medicine, IM might be a bad choice because of all of the paperwork and social work that gets in the way of medicine in general.

 

If you like the subject matter inherent to IM despite the fact that the majority of your time will be spent on BS, then IM is a good choice.

 

I'm not aware that work opportunities in something like ophtho are especially "certain". Eyes are kinda gross too.

 

Having said that, I don't really get this. If you're interested in patient care and diagnostics... i.e. medicine, then presumably you'd want to enter a medicine residency program. "Social work" goes with the territory and if you don't like it, you probably didn't realise what you were signing up for. Paperwork is inescapable in most professional fields.

[Dongzhuo]

When I spent some time in a family doc's clinic, I got the chance to read through many referral letters from specialists, and the time spent on them by different specialists is clear. Especially ophtho and derm, these letters were often 2-3 lines long. IM subspecialities, on the other hand, tend to have letters that are 2, 3 pages long!!! And the patients have a medical history that stretches from something like 1960.

[wildcard]

Hey all,

 

Just wondering how competitive FM or IM is for a Cdn IMG?

 

Credentials: med school in Eastern Europe; Cdn & U.K. clinical experiences (all core clerkships in UK); LoRs from Cdn and UK docs (that I've worked with closely, of course); very good basic sciences grades; step 1 score in low 80s; awaiting MCCEE results; writing step 2 CK soon; awaiting step 2 CS results.

 

I'll be doing 12 wks of electives in Canada (in addition to the Cdn clinical exp I already have), but that'll start in March 2011 (after the match results are announced).

 

I've already begun the Carms app process and I'm hoping to match in 2011. I'm from rural Canada, so I'm not picky abt the location of my program.

 

Any thoughts? Experiences? Suggestions to buff up application?

[wildcard]

You might be able to land SK, MB, Dal NB, MUN, and Mcgill . You won't get Toronto. The rest I'm unsure about.

 

Don't depend on it though. You have many strikes against you: Eastern Euro school, unimpressive Steps, etc. You're probably gonna have to back up with FM and try to backdoor into an IM program at your institution.

 

So, every single IMG that has matched into FM in Canada in the history of CaRMS has had stellar step scores?

 

And, 'etc.' - what other strikes do I have against me?

[jaegwon]

If you want Toronto, its gonna be tough. They usually take their own. Any non-TO grads tend to be super hardcore keen "I switched from rads to IM at the last minute" types.

 

For what its worth, 6 Queen's grads matched to Toronto IM last year.