confusedcius Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Hi there. I'm a dual citizen (Canada/U.S.) and I'm currently choosing between a Canadian med school, and a full tuition scholarship at a top 5 U.S. school. All I know about my future plans is that I (think) I would like to match in Ortho. Would attending a top 5 U.S. school (where i plan to do a lot of research) devastate my chances of matching to ortho in Canada? I would also like the option to match in the U.S. which is why I'm considering training there. If I can't have it both ways, don't hesitate to be blunt as the matter is somewhat time sensitive. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkLvr Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Hi there. I'm a dual citizen (Canada/U.S.) and I'm currently choosing between a Canadian med school, and a full tuition scholarship at a top 5 U.S. school. All I know about my future plans is that I (think) I would like to match in Ortho. Would attending a top 5 U.S. school (where i plan to do a lot of research) devastate my chances of matching to ortho in Canada? I would also like the option to match in the U.S. which is why I'm considering training there. If I can't have it both ways, don't hesitate to be blunt as the matter is somewhat time sensitive. Thanks Here's what I've heard: Matching Ortho in the US: your chances of matching to a (top) Ortho program in the US (and Ortho is way more competitive in the US than here) would be much lower coming from a Canadian school. Going to a top 5 US school would probably be your best bet. What matters most for the US ortho match are USMLE scores, reputation of the school you went to (this can be huge), letters/research/ connections, clinical grades. Matching Ortho in Canada: For the average applicant, I'd have to say the chances of matching to a Canadian ortho program are higher coming from a Canadian school since you're already in the system, but this could very well not be the case. More than what school you went to, what matters most for this match is your performance during ortho electives (at the school where you want to match). Even if you go to said top 5 US school, you can still enter 1st round CARMS. If you manage to do away electives in the Canadian ortho programs that interest you most, and impress (whatever that means), your chances would be great. Clinical grades/letters/research matter too to varying degrees. Going to a top American school certainly would not devastate your chances - as I was looking through some 2012 match results, I saw that one of the five residents matched to UofT Ophtho (a tad bit competitive ) was from a top 5 Ivy school. Good luck making your choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kobo Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Going to a top American school certainly would not devastate your chances - as I was looking through some 2012 match results, I saw that one of the five residents matched to UofT Ophtho (a tad bit competitive ) was from a top 5 Ivy school. I also heard his dad was the program director Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
confusedcius Posted May 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Here's what I've heard: Matching Ortho in the US: your chances of matching to a (top) Ortho program in the US (and Ortho is way more competitive in the US than here) would be much lower coming from a Canadian school. Going to a top 5 US school would probably be your best bet. What matters most for the US ortho match are USMLE scores, reputation of the school you went to (this can be huge), letters/research/ connections, clinical grades. Matching Ortho in Canada: For the average applicant, I'd have to say the chances of matching to a Canadian ortho program are higher coming from a Canadian school since you're already in the system, but this could very well not be the case. More than what school you went to, what matters most for this match is your performance during ortho electives (at the school where you want to match). Even if you go to said top 5 US school, you can still enter 1st round CARMS. If you manage to do away electives in the Canadian ortho programs that interest you most, and impress (whatever that means), your chances would be great. Clinical grades/letters/research matter too to varying degrees. Going to a top American school certainly would not devastate your chances - as I was looking through some 2012 match results, I saw that one of the five residents matched to UofT Ophtho (a tad bit competitive ) was from a top 5 Ivy school. Good luck making your choice! Thanks so much! This definitely clarifies the issue. I spoke with U of T ortho today, and they said they don't give preference to Canada vs U.S. UGME (assuming the U.S. school is reputable). However, after explaining my situation to some other ortho programs in Canada, they said that they don't accept IMG's (I didn't think Canadians with U.S. UGME were considered IMG's?!). Anyways, I think full tuition at a great U.S. school is too good too pass up. I'll just do the best I can in Boards, Clinical etc. and hope to cross the bridge to Canadian Residency if I come to it. I just wanted to make sure said bridge exists. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
confusedcius Posted May 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Unless your dad is in orthopedics, or someone you know is in orthopedics and you've job shadowed them then it is EXTREMELY difficult, and more importantly, unwise, to make a decision of medical schools based on pre-conceived notions of what specialty you might like. The reason is first of all you presumably lack exposure to the chosen field and to alternative fields, but you also fall into the pitfall that most junior medical students do and equate specialty choice with career choice. Sure you might like being in the OR, but it might not be worth it to go through all that training and working those long hours, forgoing other sources of happiness to spend that one day in the OR. What you don't want to do is go into a system where you are an outsider. So being a Canadian in a US system makes you slightly disadvantaged because you're canadian for the US match, and makes you an outsider for the canadian match. You're very luck in that you've overcome that with your dual cizitenship. You need to ask yourself 1) where you would like to do residency and why, and 2) where do you see yourself practicing in the long run and why. The answers to these questions will help us give you better advice. It also helps to know which canadian school too Thanks so much for your input. I understand that my specialty of choice may change drastically in the next four years. All I know is that I'd like some of my practice to be devoted to athletics (I was a pro athlete for seven years). Thus, I could also end up doing PMR or a sports med fellowship (along with IM, family or peds). However, my desire to do ortho stems from the amazing orthopaedic surgeons who have worked on me. As far as quality of life is concerned, I've already had a career and, thus, I understand the value of a life outside of your passion. If I find the ortho lifestyle (during clerkship and what have you) takes too much of a toll on my sanity, I will definitely reconsider. Unfortunately, I only applied/was accepted to one Canadian school and it's NOT (I'm hoping to maintain some anonymity here) a Queen's, U of T caliber school (although all Canadian schools are great.) Thanks again for your thoughts. P.S. To be honest, I would really like to do residency/work in a nice climate, maybe even on a coast. So sue me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reflex Posted May 23, 2012 Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Here's what I've heard: Matching Ortho in the US: your chances of matching to a (top) Ortho program in the US (and Ortho is way more competitive in the US than here) would be much lower coming from a Canadian school. Going to a top 5 US school would probably be your best bet. What matters most for the US ortho match are USMLE scores, reputation of the school you went to (this can be huge), letters/research/ connections, clinical grades. Matching Ortho in Canada: For the average applicant, I'd have to say the chances of matching to a Canadian ortho program are higher coming from a Canadian school since you're already in the system, but this could very well not be the case. More than what school you went to, what matters most for this match is your performance during ortho electives (at the school where you want to match). Even if you go to said top 5 US school, you can still enter 1st round CARMS. If you manage to do away electives in the Canadian ortho programs that interest you most, and impress (whatever that means), your chances would be great. Clinical grades/letters/research matter too to varying degrees. Going to a top American school certainly would not devastate your chances - as I was looking through some 2012 match results, I saw that one of the five residents matched to UofT Ophtho (a tad bit competitive ) was from a top 5 Ivy school. Good luck making your choice! curious where you saw the match results? link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Journey Man Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Hi there. I'm a dual citizen (Canada/U.S.) and I'm currently choosing between a Canadian med school, and a full tuition scholarship at a top 5 U.S. school. All I know about my future plans is that I (think) I would like to match in Ortho. Would attending a top 5 U.S. school (where i plan to do a lot of research) devastate my chances of matching to ortho in Canada? I would also like the option to match in the U.S. which is why I'm considering training there. If I can't have it both ways, don't hesitate to be blunt as the matter is somewhat time sensitive. Thanks If its truly TOP5 or prestige associated with it (e.g. Harvard, Hopkins, UPenn, UCSF, Yale, Stanford) then without a doubt go there. Dont think about it, just go. No school in Canada can match the resources and prestige that these school names carry with you for a lifetime. If you really wanna match Ortho in the future, then US has many more programs for you to match to, probably will allow you to have more money and operating time as a surgeon (speculating perhaps someone else can comment on this). If you go to a Canadian school and end up trying to apply to the US for Ortho because of limited spots in Canada, no one really knows about Canadian schools in US or Worldwide aside from McGill perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
confusedcius Posted May 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 If its truly TOP5 or prestige associated with it (e.g. Harvard, Hopkins, UPenn, UCSF, Yale, Stanford) then without a doubt go there. Dont think about it, just go. No school in Canada can match the resources and prestige that these school names carry with you for a lifetime. If you really wanna match Ortho in the future, then US has many more programs for you to match to, probably will allow you to have more money and operating time as a surgeon (speculating perhaps someone else can comment on this). If you go to a Canadian school and end up trying to apply to the US for Ortho because of limited spots in Canada, no one really knows about Canadian schools in US or Worldwide aside from McGill perhaps. It truly is top 5 and I've taken the advice of the good people in this forum (and others) and am heading south! The match is too far away to start fretting, and a lot may change in the meantime. Thanks for all the advice 101ers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Med0123 Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 It truly is top 5 and I've taken the advice of the good people in this forum (and others) and am heading south! The match is too far away to start fretting, and a lot may change in the meantime. Thanks for all the advice 101ers! I think you made a good choice, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkLvr Posted May 25, 2012 Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 curious where you saw the match results? link? Google "SDN 2012 Match Lists" and find the appropriate thread on SDN for this years NRMP results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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