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Length of Electives


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Common sense applies... all things being equal, it is easier to impress on a 3 week elective compared to a 2 week elective. A stellar applicant who did a 2 week elective will be looked more favourable upon than a mediocre applicant who did a 3 week elective. Personally, the benefit of 2 week electives is exposure to more programs, which is important to more both in terms of ones that I'm considering for top choices, as well as potential backups which I don't have a ton of exposure in (i.e. pathology). I booked mainly 2 week electives for next year. I personally can't imagine it matters all that much.

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Booking 2 week electives won't hinder you're ability to develop skills or gain an appreciation for a given specialty - you can still do the same total number of weeks. In psych and peds, 5 2-week electives will allow you to explore more subspecialities within each, as well. I think 2 weeks is a perfect length for getting a feel for a program, and for them to get a feel for you.

In the end it'll likely have very little impact on your result in CaRMS

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  • 2 months later...

Hi,

 

Most people already mentioned the benefits of doing 2 week electives, just want to add that if you are able to impress in 2 weeks it also shows you are a fast learner (which you should be able to demonstrate).

 

One suggestion for doing 3 week elective is when doing GIM CTU or peds CTU (where some staff only work 2 weeks at a time). Some CTU staff only work 2 weeks at a time and before booking the elective it is unlikely for you to know the schedule of staff on service. If you book a 2 week elective and happen to be working with 2 staffs (one week each), you are unlikely to get a strong letter, as compared to a 3 week elective where you work for 2 weeks at least with one staff.

Is it better to do two week electives and thus see more locations, perhaps at the expense of developing better clinical skills in an area, or is it better to do three or four week electives and get a good feel for the location and the specialty.

 

Thanks

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Is it better to do two week electives and thus see more locations, perhaps at the expense of developing better clinical skills in an area, or is it better to do three or four week electives and get a good feel for the location and the specialty.

 

Thanks

 

2 weeks is better because more chance at letters--3 weeks tends to be overkill.

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