Question regarding residency matching

[Guest Beaver]

Hello

 

I noticed that certain specialties are oversubscribed resulting in a good number of students losing their 1st residency of choice. My question pertains to the methodology involved with match selections. Would previous experience (prior to med school) ie doctoral Fellowship in neuropharmacology help me obtain a neurology residency or is the decision primarily based on clerkship performance/clicking with director etc. During my Ph.D. I did have extensive clinical research in epilepsy but I don't know if that would translate into a successful neurology (adult) match, a program that is currently oversubscribed.

 

Again I'm probably jumping the gun as I'm still waiting for acceptance/rejection results for this admission cycle but I thought I would toss this out to see what you think

 

Your advice is very much appreciated and I thank you in advance

 

The Beav

[Guest Ian Wong]

A PhD will certainly turn heads and get you noticed on paper. In the end though, matching into a program usually requires fitting in well with that department, or having solid reference letters that will attest to the same. However, a PhD is a huge asset to have in your application in particular if the research is directly related to the specialty that you're applying for.

 

With that said, I think the PhD would most likely get you the interview, but you'd still have to work for the residency spot after that (all the other intangibles would come into play). Neuro is a pretty academic area, and I'm sure they'd love to take in residents with such extensive research and analytical background.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest lorax]

I have another question regarding residency matching. I've been accepted to UBC and Dal and wanted to know if going to one province now will affect my chances of going to the other province for residency. Related to that is one school known to be better than the other?

[Guest Ian Wong]

Hi lorax,

 

This thread might be of some benefit:

pub125.ezboard.com/fpremed101frm25.showMessage?topicID=34.topic

 

I've not heard anything bad about Dal; from what little I know of it, it's supposed to be an awesome school. I don't think you can lose choosing between either Dal or UBC. I'm sure that you can get good residencies coming from either school, but your chances of getting a residency from your home medical school are probably a bit better (as you've had more time to network and meet the people in that residency program).

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest lorax]

Thanks for the feedback and other site of discussion. Its still a tough choice as both are great cities and schools for different reasons.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Hey Beaver - I'm only in 1st year, everything I've hard about matching pretty much gels with what Ian said. Your PhD and publications WILL be of benefit when applying for residency programs, but "fitting in" with the program and clerkship performance is supposed to be more important.

[Guest MD2006]

Lorax: I'll give you a link that will take you to the Dal Alumni Association web-site. On it you'll find the match-list of the Dal 2000 class. It gives the speciality and school matched to. The majority of people matched to Dal which is no surprise but there were people who matched all over Canada, several to the US, and several over-seas.

 

www.medicine.dal.ca/alumn...ation.html

 

Hope it's useful!

 

MD2006

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Do they still post where everyone from Dal matched to in the foyer of the Tupper building? I used to check that list a fair bit. . .

[Guest MD2006]

UWOMED2005: That's a good question....I don't know. I haven't actually been there in over two years but if anyone is in Halifax and wants to check it out that's a great idea!

[Guest cgb]

Hi everyone. The Match results were in fact posted in the tupper link last year. It must be an interesting experience for everyone.