More med students than residency spots

[Guest cracked30]

I was told by a program director the other day that there are now fewer residency spots than there will be applicants this year. This is because foreign trained Canadians from select schools will now be competing for class 1 residency spots.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

I didn't hear that it was for sure foreign grads would be allowed in the first round (though there have been rumblings about this for a few years,) but it isn't really news there aren't more spots than students anymore.

 

Rumour is they won't be correcting this in the future beyond adding a few spots to make the ratio only slightly above 1:1 MD grads:residency spots.

 

With that much overflow into the second round, does this mean they'll need a third round to sort everything out?

 

Looks like the anatomical pathology in Saskatchewan will actually have residence for once.

[Guest moo]

Also the CaRMs match is after the NRMP match for the first time this year. Does this mean that more people than usual will head to the US?

[Guest Ian Wong]

I don't think a lot of Canadians apply concurrently to both Canada and the US, but for those who do, they will likely now end up in the US instead of Canada.

 

Ian

[Guest extrachromasome]

Can anyone confirm that foreign grads will be allowed into the first iteration of Carms? And what is your source?

Thanks!

[Guest Ian Wong]

There was a lawsuit in Manitoba over this issue last year, with the assertion that since select, and I emphasize the word select, IMG's were allowed to compete in the second round of CaRMS, that they obviously were felt to have the capacity to practise medicine in Canada. Therefore, it was felt to be discriminatory that these fully-eligible individuals were unable to match in the first round like their Canadian medical school graduate counterparts.

 

As far as I know, that suit was successful, and the theory was that by extension, it would propagate throughout the rest of Canada, with Manitoba serving as a precedent of sorts. The thing to remember is that even if an IMG is allowed to register for the first round, that is no guarantee of getting interviews, or being ranked by the residency programs. Unfortunately, you will still likely face an uphill battle when competing against Canadian or US-trained medical students, who are considered a more "known" commodity, especially considering the fact that there is still an overabundance of Canadian and US applicants to all of the competitive specialties in CaRMS.

 

Is this a step forward for IMG's? Sure. Will it necessarily mean that you'll be able to apply for the competitive specialties and positions that are only available during the first round of CaRMS? Yes. Will it necessarily mean that you'll be in strong contendership for the competitive specialties and positions that are only available during the first round of CaRMS? Probably not. There's just not enough of those spots to go around at the present time already, and I suspect that Canadian and US grads will still have first dibs on them.

 

I once looked for this suit online, and was unable to find it (I heard about it through word of mouth during med school), so if you are successful in locating it, please post up a link.

 

Ian

[Guest extrachromasome]

Thanks Ian,

As you said, this does not mean residency directors need to interview IMG applicants, or will do so. But at least now they have a choice to do this. It works in the US... IMG's are less competetive but are given the same rights and chances as American grads. Its up to program directors to judge suitability.

[Guest moo]

Well how can PDs judge the quality of an IMG versus say an CMG/AMG? I mean, there are no standardized exams in Canada (other than the LMCC I, which PDs don't see until all decisions have been made anyway), and unless you do a rotation at the institution to which you are applying you will automatically be viewed in a bad light. At least in the US, you have the USMLE, which, although it is by no means the final determinant of where you match, can somehow "level the playing field" so to speak.

[Guest UofA man]

As the rules are right now, IMG's are only able to enter the second round or has the ruling already affected this already.

[Guest Sarah371]

Actually, Canadian graduates are viewed in a good light by American programs....There is not the wide range of quality of medical school in Canada that there is in the US....also most Canadian applicants have written step one of the boards if not step two of the boards before they apply. In Ontario some IMG qualify to do a clerkship year and then apply to residency spots....but they have their own spots and don't compete with the Canadian grads. Something was said about American medschool grads being allowed to compete in first round if they are Canadian citizens or landed immigrants...but I am not sure if this is true.

 

SARAH

[Guest moo]

Something was said about American medschool grads being allowed to compete in first round if they are Canadian citizens or landed immigrants...but I am not sure if this is true.

 

This is true.

 

www.carms.ca/procedure/us_index.htm

[Guest moo]

I would also like to add that although American programs see Canadian applicants favorably, they generally do not want to "steal" Canadian grads. Also state monies have been withdrawn from programs that have Canadian trainees. Thus there is a financial incentive as well.