Should I be stressed about CaRMS?

[rmorelan]

hm...I always thought if you are a CMG, it's pretty easy to get a residency spot esp if you wanna do family med or something, but looking through the forum, seems that quite a few CMG were unmatched (not even to family). Is it just a function of choosing too competitive of a specialty in first round? or it's actually more competitive then I thought? ie. is it like the mcat...where there a score on the MCCQE I should at least get? or not enough ECs, research, shadowing things in the summer etc...

 

It is usually a combination of selecting something competitive without backing up with something non-competitive, or simply not selecting enough sites.

 

Take rads - has about a 75-80% percent acceptance rate. Not bad (unless you are in the 20-25% of course). The people serious tried to get interviews at many programs - I applied to most of the ones in the country, and would have been willing to go where ever if needed to get in. Some people I know who didn't match ranked fewer as they were tied to a particular area of the country due often for valid reasons.

 

The problem is that CARMS is well binary - you match or you don't. If you knew that there was a high - 90-95%+ chance you would in general match in the first round that is supposed to be reassuring - and in most things you would reassured. However, we all know examples of the 5-10% and that result is quite scary so the odds don't help much it seems No one keen on a competitive field for possibly a very long time likes the though of a 20-50% chance of failure near the last realistic barrier. Particularly since those that fail are often of course highly motivated, smart, and overall good people and really there isn't much, if anything competitive, in the second round.

 

Some areas, even for family, are very competitive - yet if you want family and apply all over the place it is extremely likely you will get in somewhere. For instance in the first round this year I believe absolutely everything was taken in TO, which just shows you that TO is a competitive place (programs are of course good but also people just want to go home - after all residency is 2-5 years)

 

The MCCQE by the way is complete irrelevant as it happens to be writing after match is done. It has no impact on anything.

[Cottoncandy6827]

Thanks for the clarification!

 

As someone who has been through it, do you have any advice as to what sorts of things we should do in the summers to make sure we are in the best position possible for the matches? I am not looking any anything super competitve, something mid tier. Some people have recommended to just take it easy and travel if I am not interested in a super competitive field since rest will be hard to come by once 2nd, 3rd year starts ... or should I spend it doing clinical research? or better to shadow so that our perceptors knows us come CARMS time?

 

Thanks

 

 

It is usually a combination of selecting something competitive without backing up with something non-competitive, or simply not selecting enough sites.

 

Take rads - has about a 75-80% percent acceptance rate. Not bad (unless you are in the 20-25% of course). The people serious tried to get interviews at many programs - I applied to most of the ones in the country, and would have been willing to go where ever if needed to get in. Some people I know who didn't match ranked fewer as they were tied to a particular area of the country due often for valid reasons.

 

The problem is that CARMS is well binary - you match or you don't. If you knew that there was a high - 90-95%+ chance you would in general match in the first round that is supposed to be reassuring - and in most things you would reassured. However, we all know examples of the 5-10% and that result is quite scary so the odds don't help much it seems No one keen on a competitive field for possibly a very long time likes the though of a 20-50% chance of failure near the last realistic barrier. Particularly since those that fail are often of course highly motivated, smart, and overall good people and really there isn't much, if anything competitive, in the second round.

 

Some areas, even for family, are very competitive - yet if you want family and apply all over the place it is extremely likely you will get in somewhere. For instance in the first round this year I believe absolutely everything was taken in TO, which just shows you that TO is a competitive place (programs are of course good but also people just want to go home - after all residency is 2-5 years)

 

The MCCQE by the way is complete irrelevant as it happens to be writing after match is done. It has no impact on anything.

[rmorelan]

Thanks for the clarification!

 

As someone who has been through it, do you have any advice as to what sorts of things we should do in the summers to make sure we are in the best position possible for the matches? I am not looking any anything super competitve, something mid tier. Some people have recommended to just take it easy and travel if I am not interested in a super competitive field since rest will be hard to come by once 2nd, 3rd year starts ... or should I spend it doing clinical research? or better to shadow so that our perceptors knows us come CARMS time?

 

Thanks

 

ha - well you just answered your own question to a degree - you can do research or your can do clinical electives. Now which is best is debatable and depends on the target field as well. Asking in that department/residents is a very useful although it probably doesn't hurt to have a little of both (carms has sections for ECs and research - to me personally I wouldn't really want either blank )

 

You can very likely match in mid tier things without a lot of intensive summers stuff - it is all about your comfort level and the target field. Summers are vacation time as well - and taking some vacation time is not a bad idea.

[Renin]

Thanks for the clarification!

 

As someone who has been through it, do you have any advice as to what sorts of things we should do in the summers to make sure we are in the best position possible for the matches? I am not looking any anything super competitve, something mid tier. Some people have recommended to just take it easy and travel if I am not interested in a super competitive field since rest will be hard to come by once 2nd, 3rd year starts ... or should I spend it doing clinical research? or better to shadow so that our perceptors knows us come CARMS time?

 

Thanks

 

I think that you should consider developing yourself as a well rounded person, in a way that is similar to the peers in your field of interest. Remember, they are looking at you as a future colleague - are you someone they can get along with?

 

I used my elective time to get my name around for CaRMS - don't worry too much about shadowing for purpose of CaRMS except to gauge interest in different specialties.