Competitiveness this Cycle

[ellorie]

UWO Emerg got slightly fewer applications this year than last, apparently (about 120 versus 130).

[tigars53]

From what I heard there are a lot less applicant in surgical specialities this year from my school

[johndoe88]

Emerg seems quite competitive this year.

how do you know? and lostlamb also makes a good pt, it's always competitive. But any worse? 

[rmorelan]

Sounds like rads is back up again.....

[sultanator]

From what i gathered in my class and friends in other med schools...

 

- internal med seems to be quite popular this year

- FM ++

- OBGYN ++

- lot of people are putting anesthesiology as 2nd or 3rd choice

- Peds ++

- Psychiatry ++

- surgical specialities seem to be less popular compared to last year

[Renin]

Psych is really competitive this year here anyway...

[ellorie]

Gearing up for another ugly year for psych, maybe?

 

Good for the profession, maybe not so good for me!

[bloh]

UofC Family has receieved a substantial number of more applications this cycle than last cycle. And last year was off the charts to begin with.

[sultanator]

I'm just wondering if the increase in FM applications across Canada is a true indication of interest in FM, or just a tendency for higher # of programs including FM as backup ...

[drake19]

I'm just wondering if the increase in FM applications across Canada is a true indication of interest in FM, or just a tendency for higher # of programs including FM as backup ...

How can anyone answer that question.....unless some survey existed asking "Are you applying to FM because you are interested or using it as a backup"....but my speculation is the increase in # of applicants is due to the fact that there are alot more IMGs (carribean, europe medical school applicants) plus family med in canada has a competitive salary, less schooling, with tons of "plus one" options....I am a US-medical graduate and my school has a relatively large bunch of canadian medical students and most of us are applying to family because it is the safest way to return back to Canada

 

Some places that I rotated in (US) were chock full of Canadian carribean medical students and all I talked to are applying to either peds or family because maybe they perceive it also as the safest way to return home.

[drake19]

From what i gathered in my class and friends in other med schools...

 

- internal med seems to be quite popular this year

- FM ++

- OBGYN ++

- lot of people are putting anesthesiology as 2nd or 3rd choice

- Peds ++

- Psychiatry ++

- surgical specialities seem to be less popular compared to last year

 

 

How is this accurate at all?? No one will be able to assess the true "competitiveness" until we get some hard stats in next year's carms report... You go into a specialty because you are passionate about it and you are qualified....if competition is a deterrent for you then i don't know how to help you...

[MansionMD]

Instead of waiting for stats to be released next year, which become useless for this year's applicants, people can assess competitiveness using confirmation from programs about number of applications received.

 

It's a way to determine competitiveness by proxy. Not perfect, but it's the best way we have at the moment.

 

 

How is this accurate at all?? No one will be able to assess the true "competitiveness" until we get some hard stats in next year's carms report... You go into a specialty because you are passionate about it and you are qualified....if competition is a deterrent for you then i don't know how to help you...

[sultanator]

@drake19

 

Dude, you might want to bring your intensity down a notch. I know you are a USA-Graduate so perhaps your options are more limited, but for the rest of us, we are just sharing the information we gather from programs and fellow colleagues who apply to them.

 

Have a nice day !

[samy]

How is this accurate at all?? No one will be able to assess the true "competitiveness" until we get some hard stats in next year's carms report...

+1

The only way we can assess the competitveness is with the Carms stats that should be published next year and will reflect the current matching process.

[A-Stark]

Emerg seems quite competitive this year.

 

Emerg is always competitive, comparable to plastics or ENT. And the +1 option is becoming more and more competitive as well (think 75 applicants with 40 interviews for 4 spots at my centre). 

[tigars53]

How is this accurate at all?? No one will be able to assess the true "competitiveness" until we get some hard stats in next year's carms report... You go into a specialty because you are passionate about it and you are qualified....if competition is a deterrent for you then i don't know how to help you...

 

It is not meant to be accurate, it's just to give us an idea. Not that it will change my mind on applying or not in the speciality, but some people might decide to add applications to back-up programs if the competitiveness seems high. Also, it helps in managing our stress.

[ralk]

The only data we have at this point is the initial quotas from CaRMS, which don't appear to have changed much in any specialty from last year. More importantly, the overall quotas haven't increased from last year, when the quota-to-applicant ratio was at it's lowest in 10+ years. Since I don't believe the number of graduating CMGs has dropped, that should mean that in terms of overall competitiveness, this year should be a least as competitive as last year, though that says nothing about the competitiveness of individual specialties.

[MansionMD]

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[MansionMD]

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[drake19]

 

it's such a weird feeling... getting invites from my dream programs, but quiet rejections from my "backup" programs :S

 

anyone else in same situation?

 

 

Are you a CMG or IMG.....and what are you applying into....so far haven't heard back from one of my backups....and it is still very early in the game - most programs like IM haven't even released anything yet

 

I worked at a private office in Toronto full of IMGs (5) many have not received anything at this point (Family) which was the same scenario as last year.....so in my experience IMGs being rejected is not out of the ordinary

[hkmedic]

how do you know? and lostlamb also makes a good pt, it's always competitive. But any worse?

Calm down there. I know Emerg is always competitive. Sorry, I meant to say, anecdotally it seems more competitive this year than last.

[A-Stark]

Most IM programs don't release interview invites until the first or second week of January. I don't really know why - it made for a stressful morning while I was in the process of registering for an elective!

[johndoe88]

Calm down there. I know Emerg is always competitive. Sorry, I meant to say, anecdotally it seems more competitive this year than last.

lol I am calm, that wasn't meant as a rude how do you know more of a literal what is your anecdotal "evidence." aka if you're a resident I'd be more inclined to believe you whereas if you're another student then meh cuz we are all blind and full of it at this stage. 

[rmorelan]

Sounds like rads is back up again.....

 

yeah it is up for sure.

[ellorie]

According to the Calgary program coordinator, there was an increased number of psych applications across the country compared to last year, and last year was a competitive year compared to psych's usual.