Re-applying to CaRMS

[2014MD]

Hi all. I am a med 2014 at a Canadian medical school and unfortunately did not match in the first and second iteration this year. I applied to a somewhat competitive speciality (gen sx, obsgyn, etc) and did not back up. I interviewed at 9 schools first round. I am now thinking what to do for next year. Has anyone had experience where they either themselves or know someone who did not match first carms cycle, then took a year off and successfully matched to the initial specialty of their choice? Would schools "blacklist" an applicant in their second application, or would I essentially be able to start a fresh application next cycle? I of course will be competing electives within the specialty, get stronger references, and attempt to publish more, so the aim is to have a very productive year.

 

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the help.

[Lactic Folly]

Sorry about your situation. Your application will not be completely fresh with respect to CaRMS - it will be clear that you are a prior year applicant - but how the program views that is up to them (depending on whether they liked you but it was simply a very competitive year, or there was some red flag in your application).

[Laika]

Has anyone had experience where they either themselves or know someone who did not match first carms cycle, then took a year off and successfully matched to the initial specialty of their choice?

 

I know of someone in my med school class who applied to a "somewhat competitive" specialty, went unmatched, and then matched to that specialty the following year. I'm sorry I don't know the specifics of how they improved their app, but I believe they were somehow involved in their field during their "off" year.

 

So yes, it's possible.

[justletmein]

You can spend the year beefing up your CV with research, but as far as I know you will not be able to do any electives, since you will no longer be a student covered by your school's insurance policy....

 

I know a few people who have matched to their specialty of choice a year later. You never know how popular a specialty will be from one year to the next.

[med88]

At some schools, you are allowed to do electives. I know that at ottawa, there is an option of graduating and doing a 30 week "program" in whatever you choose, ie. clinical electives or research electives.

[keith_015]

I know of someone in my med school class who applied to a "somewhat competitive" specialty, went unmatched, and then matched to that specialty the following year. I'm sorry I don't know the specifics of how they improved their app, but I believe they were somehow involved in their field during their "off" year.

 

So yes, it's possible.

 

We had an opposite. Had a 2013 guy apply for two competitive specialties again. Still unmatched.

[regular]

We had an opposite. Had a 2013 guy apply for two competitive specialties again. Still unmatched.

 

Are they still allowed to defer graduating after going thru two matches? Kinda crazy how it's starting to feel like applying to medical school all over again.

[keith_015]

I think they graduated. The guy is too stubborn to accept what has happened and is going back into next year's match for the same stuff I heard.

[rmorelan]

At some schools, you are allowed to do electives. I know that at ottawa, there is an option of graduating and doing a 30 week "program" in whatever you choose, ie. clinical electives or research electives.

 

Western has had the exact same thing - also someone going for something surgical for the second pass.

[rmorelan]

We had an opposite. Had a 2013 guy apply for two competitive specialties again. Still unmatched.

 

yeah, that has got to be rough - I wonder if he will spin around and go for it again (may actually not have anything to lose after all, it has to go through the first round again after all)

[Capucine]

I know someone who went unmatched, did a master and got in general surgery the next year.

[newgrad2014]

I just wanted to give some words of hope for students who may have been unlucky in the first round of the R1 match. Early data indicates there were 140 unmatched CMG students in 2014 compared to 130 CMG students in 2013. The number of positions available for the 2nd iteration has dropped compared to last year from 292 in 2013 to 228 in 2014. This all points to a much more competitive match due to a number of factors: IMG dedicated spots since 2007, increased medical student enrollment, larger numbers of prior year unmatched students due to increased 2nd round competitiveness combined with limited access to scramble positions due to the growth of post graduate programs across Canada, and year-to-year variation in specialty competitiveness.

 

This forum has a few active posters, but compared to the number of CMGs (~3000) applying to CaRMS each year, the forum gives only a small subset of opinions from students who were actually unmatched. If you look at the speculation found on this forum, you will think that going unmatched is a "scarlet letter" or the end of your medical dream. That is a gross exaggeration and is just unhelpful. Going unmatched means that you are up for a challenging year, and this challenge can be surmounted. I was unmatched in 2013, and was able to match to my top specialty/location in 2014.

 

Some suggestions:

(1) If you haven't already, try to get in contact with your student affairs office. They can help you determine what type of MD office supports are available and any department requirements.

(2) Try to come to terms with being unmatched and make the most of this opportunity. The most common reason people are unmatched are: applied to only one specialty, did not rank enough locations, weak interview performance (sort of a result of not applying to enough specialties) and random chance. What does randomness mean in CaRMS, it means several things, some individuals try to read patterns in CaRMS trends and pick less competitive specialties, making that specialty more competitive, or a group of like minded people across the country all want the same specialty in excess of the number of spots available at their home school, etc.

(3) Do some soul-searching. Looking back at your clerkship rotations, did any fields make you think twice, but you felt locked in due to prior electives? These are specialties you should be applying to!

(4) Apply to the 2nd iteration. It might be a requirement for most MD office assistance. There is a ~50% chance of matching for CMGs and on a Canada wide basis, this could reduce the number of unmatched students to ~70.

(5) If you remain unmatched after round 2 you have several options:

a) complete a course-based or research masters program, e.g., clinical epidemiology.

while studying for the MCCQE I, write the USMLE step 2 to give you the option of applying to the US match.

c) look for opportunities to complete additional electives through your MD office, this can involve delaying your convocation until the Fall. These electives should be used to explore new locations or specialties.

(6) Keep positive: you'll be sharing your unmatched story a lot in the next year if you are doing electives and during interviews. Most people will be very supportive and helpful. However, there will be some people who will be judgmental and rude, categorizing you in the same group as every bad medical student they have met (e.g., lack of punctuality, lack of knowledge, poor communication). Do not take it personally and try to prove them wrong by being punctual, knowledgeable, and having a great attitude. This negative generalization of the "unmatched" is just a rationalization used by people to avoid cognitive dissonance, i.e., it makes no sense why good people would go unmatched, hence the rationalization, they cannot be "good".

(7) Develop a new CaRMS strategy: interview in several specialties (2-3) and in multiple locations. Remember there are 3 weeks for CaRMS and it is possible to have an interview in a new location every day - I did This will be expensive.

(8) For students who are not yet in the match process, lobby the CFMS to not ignore this problem. ~5% or 1 in 20 medial students going unmatched is not acceptable, especially if one considers that 10-15% of R1 positions are dedicated to IMGs.

 

Best of luck to all entering the 2nd iteration!

 

Sorry to hear that 2014MD. I hope you have already read aristarchus' post. I would like to add a few thoughts after reading your post. With 9 interviews (assuming all 9 are in the one specialty you wanted), I feel comfortable to say that you probably already look decent on paper. I personally feel completing more electives, getting stronger reference letters, and doing more research are important, but they are not the most important. I suggest you spending sometime to reflect on that 9 interviews. Write down what went well and what didn't. Go to student affair and talk to a counselor. Keep an open mind and foster one or two new interests, so next year you can apply to 2-3 specialties.

 

Best of luck! I wish you much success in next year's match.

[2014MD]

Thank you everyone for all the posts and advice. Much appreciated. The feedback I received from my home school program was that the interview went well but it was a very competitive year for the specialty and one my reference letters was average.

[GrouchoMarx]

Thank you everyone for all the posts and advice. Much appreciated. The feedback I received from my home school program was that the interview went well but it was a very competitive year for the specialty and one my reference letters was average.

 

How would people approach the "one bad reference letter out of three" problem? Would it be wise to replace all of them, or try to guess who wrote the bad one?

[2014MD]

I definitely won't be using one of them for sure because I had a weird feeling about it anyways, shouldn't have used it I know 1 of them was really good because the preceptor has been super supportive through all of this and told me wrote me a great letter and I do trust her. The second one I am on the fence about whether to use or not this coming cycle. I guess you never really know for sure with these letters eh.