soulstress Posted May 27, 2011 Report Share Posted May 27, 2011 Hi - I hear about how easy it is to get a spot in Family (as long as you're willing to relocate)...has anybody secured a residency spot without doing any electives in it in 4th year? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted May 27, 2011 Report Share Posted May 27, 2011 I know several people who ended up in family medicine in the second round after going unmatched in the first round. I doubt they would have done any family medicine electives in 4th year; however, we had required rotations in family medicine in both 3rd and 4th year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiomegaly Posted May 27, 2011 Report Share Posted May 27, 2011 It's starting to get tougher in a sense that you can't always get away with no elective time - family programs aren't dumb, why would they want someone who has demonstrated zero interest in their specialty, when they could leave spots unfilled for the second round and fill them with people who desperately want to match? Some family programs (including UofA) are starting to deny interviews to people who don't do enough electives - I've heard between 2-4 weeks. In Alberta at least, the rural family programs are more competitive than the urban ones. There were 159 unmatched family positions (70 from the french schools) and 139 unmatched grads. So maybe it's safer to say that if you want a spot in a more desirable location you'd be better off doing some elective time. I mean it's not that hard - do one in the summer between 2nd and 3rd year and book one for post-interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted May 27, 2011 Report Share Posted May 27, 2011 If you are choosing family in the second round, you are also saying that you would rather match into family medicine than go unmatched and sit out another year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackJack Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 If you're willing to go anywhere, family is obtainable by anyone who made it into medical school. The dynamics of matching changes in the 2nd round. Whereas in round 1 you are applying for what you think you would like to practice in, in round 2 you are matching based on what you think you would dislike least. I picked my field because out of the 2009 leftovers(there wasn't much) what I picked was something I disliked less than everything else available, though I still dislike it. Good PDs should understand this dynamic and select applicants accordingly, or just fill up spots. Whatever. Doesn't matter. I was thinking: perhaps FM is not popular enough due to its image of being less knowledgeable than specialties. Whereas FM prides itself on "breadth" it is the only field that really does that. Every other field is an "expert" compared to FM. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiomegaly Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 FM docs are experts at knowing a bit of everything? I think it takes a brave soul to be a family doc, in a class full of Type A keeners everyone wants to be the best and the expert at what they do. I think it's actually harder to have a wide base of knowledge than to see the same conditions day in and day out - in FM, you never know what is going to walk through the door! Sure it could be your typical URTI or a HTN visit, but what about the elderly woman with back pain? Simple mechanical, multiple myeloma, spinal stenosis, radiculopathy, renal colic? That's my opinion at least. There are people in my class who love the idea of being a generalist, and there are some that know they want to specialize. Depends on your personality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronjw Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 FM docs are experts at knowing a bit of everything? I think it takes a brave soul to be a family doc, in a class full of Type A keeners everyone wants to be the best and the expert at what they do. I think it's actually harder to have a wide base of knowledge than to see the same conditions day in and day out - in FM, you never know what is going to walk through the door! Sure it could be your typical URTI or a HTN visit, but what about the elderly woman with back pain? Simple mechanical, multiple myeloma, spinal stenosis, radiculopathy, renal colic? That's my opinion at least. There are people in my class who love the idea of being a generalist, and there are some that know they want to specialize. Depends on your personality. I agree with this as it fits with my own style - a lot of knowledge on a varied of subjects but for me a reason why FM isn't that appealing is due to the lack of patient time. I want to help. I want to solve problems and how can one effectively do that in 7-10 mins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulstress Posted May 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Thanks for the responses so far. I guess I'm more interested in first round matching. I go to a school where we do some mandatory FP in first and second years, and I would like to backup with FP, but I'm wondering if pre-CaRMS electives in FP are absolutely necessary to ensure interviews in FP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justletmein Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Thanks for the responses so far. I guess I'm more interested in first round matching. I go to a school where we do some mandatory FP in first and second years, and I would like to backup with FP, but I'm wondering if pre-CaRMS electives in FP are absolutely necessary to ensure interviews in FP. No, most programs encourage you to have varied electives. So FM elective pre-carms is not necessary. But if you do 3 rads electives, they will probably start asking questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darla Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 No, most programs encourage you to have varied electives. So FM elective pre-carms is not necessary. I'm sorry but I disagree. Most programs I applied to encouraged "electives in a range of specialties including our own". I.e. you need to do at least one elective in family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 I'm sorry but I disagree. Most programs I applied to encouraged "electives in a range of specialties including our own". I.e. you need to do at least one elective in family. Darla, do you think a summer elective is enough? I'm doing my FM elective starting next week, it'll count as a 3rd year elective. But as for my other electives, I want to do things that are relevant to family medicine (e.g. physiatry for MSK stuff and an internal med/multidisciplinary lifestyle management clinic), but not necessarily FM. We already have 8 weeks of FM in our curriculum, so I wanted to try some other stuff while I can. I just don't know if summer electives are taken seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darla Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 Darla, do you think a summer elective is enough? I'm doing my FM elective starting next week, it'll count as a 3rd year elective. But as for my other electives, I want to do things that are relevant to family medicine (e.g. physiatry for MSK stuff and an internal med/multidisciplinary lifestyle management clinic), but not necessarily FM. We already have 8 weeks of FM in our curriculum, so I wanted to try some other stuff while I can. I just don't know if summer electives are taken seriously. That should be fine - make sure to put it on your CV when you send it through CaRMS and mention it in your essays. Easy peasy I think the summer electives are taken seriously - especially if you are able to pull some important info from them. For me, it was eye opening wrt what I did and did not want in my future practice. We talked more about them during my interviews than the elective I did in 4th year. I didn't realise you guys had 8 weeks - we only have 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erk Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 Hey folks, I'm curious... I always hear FM is easy if you're willing to relocate; what if you aren't? What's the surest way to set myself up so that I can match into a residency not too far from where I live? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hking03 Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 Hey folks, I'm curious... I always hear FM is easy if you're willing to relocate; what if you aren't? What's the surest way to set myself up so that I can match into a residency not too far from where I live? I'm pretty sure the easiest way to match into a residency you want is to... do electives with that residency, tell them you want to match there... get LOR's from the program, network the crap out of that place... rank them highly for CaRM's and cross your fingers. Oh, and don't forget to perform well on your rotations/elective time there. Also, have some backups that are close by... because you never know what will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darla Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 I'm pretty sure the easiest way to match into a residency you want is to... do electives with that residency, tell them you want to match there... get LOR's from the program, network the crap out of that place... rank them highly for CaRM's and cross your fingers. Oh, and don't forget to perform well on your rotations/elective time there. Also, have some backups that are close by... because you never know what will happen. Agreed with hking. But don't be too much of a smoozer - it may backfire. Showing genuine interest with a genuine reason (I love this city and never want to leave, as an example), will really help. I don't think the stats exist for it, but anecdotally, the people I know who wanted a program in a city (i.e. a bigger group of residents/year), and ranked it first, got the placement they wanted. Most FM programs have the main program e.g. in London, then several regional sites nearby, then rural sites within an hour drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulstress Posted June 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Anyone match into FM in first round with no FM specific letters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloh Posted May 18, 2012 Report Share Posted May 18, 2012 Nothing, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that you're backing up with family if you've done 3 rad electives unless you have a very good explanation in your personal letter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebouque Posted May 18, 2012 Report Share Posted May 18, 2012 Even then, there's nothing wrong with backing up with family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justletmein Posted May 18, 2012 Report Share Posted May 18, 2012 I love it when FP gets all snobby because someone did electives in more competitive fields. What the hell are they smoking? It's not about being snobby. It's about prioritizing the students who actually want family, and ranking them higher than those who are using family as a backup. Nobody wants unhappy residents who spend their time trying to find a way to switch programs. I think applicants for competitive residencies are much more "snobby" with their "how many electives did YOU do?" type comments at interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebouque Posted May 18, 2012 Report Share Posted May 18, 2012 (this does not mean I do not value general medicine, I do - highly! Our current system tends to favour a false sense of specialization and self-back-patting rather than produce competent generalist physicians in an efficient way. It is this kind of ridiculousness that makes me find it very hard to respect family medicine as a field. The CCFP would rather nurses do family medicine than those with a rotating internship, and that's just retarded) We all value general medicine a lot (as well as every specialty out there). However, in most of your posts, you seem to indicate that the CCFP is the only organism responsible for regulating what a NP or a PA can do and cannot do. What organism delivers licenses to those professionals? It's probably their own nurses accreditation organisms in conjunction with a medical licensing body (mcc? CCFP?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudent Posted May 18, 2012 Report Share Posted May 18, 2012 We all value general medicine a lot (as well as every specialty out there). However, in most of your posts, you seem to indicate that the CCFP is the only organism responsible for regulating what a NP or a PA can do and cannot do. What organism delivers licenses to those professionals? It's probably their own nurses accreditation organisms in conjunction with a medical licensing body (mcc? CCFP?). In Manitoba PAs are regulated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, the scope of practice of PAs is defined by the scope of practice of their supervising physician with each situation being unique. In Ontario, PAs don't really exist as a legislative entity yet but it looks like we will be under the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario with a similar set-up as that in Manitoba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebouque Posted May 18, 2012 Report Share Posted May 18, 2012 In Manitoba PAs are regulated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, the scope of practice of PAs is defined by the scope of practice of their supervising physician with each situation being unique. In Ontario, PAs don't really exist as a legislative entity yet but it looks like we will be under the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario with a similar set-up as that in Manitoba Good to know thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudent Posted May 19, 2012 Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 Good to know thanks No worries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mourning Cloak Posted May 19, 2012 Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 In Manitoba PAs are regulated by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba Does the CMPA cover PAs in Manitoba i.e. where does their insurance come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstudent Posted May 19, 2012 Report Share Posted May 19, 2012 Does the CMPA cover PAs in Manitoba i.e. where does their insurance come from? No. Willis Insurance provides liability insurance for PAs who are members of CAPA. In some places PAs are covered under the employer's general liability insurance. The CMPA covers liability protection to those physicians who supervise PAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.