carazadie Posted November 23, 2014 Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 Now that CaRMS apps are done, it's time to move on to worrying about the interviews Just kidding, but I am truly wondering how many interviews I should be doing. Having applied to ten separate programs, I am starting to realize that ten interviews (all in different cities) is going to be pretty cray. I am trying to decide on an optimal number of interviews that will leave me with a good chance of matching, but also with enough sanity to interview well. For reference, I am applying to urban FM, including most of the more competitive programs. Any thoughts based on past experience would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD2015 Posted November 23, 2014 Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 I wouldn't second guess the outcome in advance and I would do my best to accept all invitations. In theory, I could have 8 interviews and where invited, I shall attend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted November 23, 2014 Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 People applying across the country for a competitive specialty + backup could easily have more than 10 interviews. Just allow enough time for travel (no more than one interview per day, and expect that most of your time in each city will be CaRMS-related). It may be tiring by the end, but that should be balanced out by the increased experience/confidence you'll have after multiple interviews. At the least, I would see how the initial interviews go before thinking about cancelling any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synch Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 My advice would be to take as many interviews as you can reasonably do. Last year, I took more than 10 interviews. I had to reschedule some because of conflicts, which meant that I interviewed before the official interview period had begun in some instances. The only interviews I turned down were those where I could not possibly work out the schedule (e.g., when I had to be at opposite ends of the country on the same day) and where programs were not willing to reschedule to another day. It was exhausting, but I don't regret it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 I wouldn't second guess the outcome in advance and I would do my best to accept all invitations. In theory, I could have 8 interviews and where invited, I shall attend. any resident will know of a few people with multiple invites like this and still didn't match. CARMS is a strange, strange beast and over caution is probably wise. I would never personal turn down any offer of an interview unless I would rather go unmatched than go to that school. This is for all the marbles after all - end game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MansionMD Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 how long do we typically get to decide whether to accept the interview or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ1985 Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Go to all of them. Afterwards you will have a much better idea of how you want to rank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 how long do we typically get to decide whether to accept the interview or not? Usually, fairly prompt replies to interview invitations are expected. If you stall too long, they will get the message that you aren't interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dh79 Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 Lots of good advice here. Go to all the interviews that you can. Enjoy the tour; it can be a lot of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MansionMD Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 how common is it that schools interview home school applicants during the week before the national interview period? which programs have done this before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synch Posted November 25, 2014 Report Share Posted November 25, 2014 It's not uncommon. The Queen's anaesthesiology program invited all Queen's applicants to interview before the national interview period last year. Not sure about others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carazadie Posted November 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 Thanks for the good advice, everyone. I've decided to accept all of my interviews, barring any absolute conflicts. It might be rough, but I only get to do CaRMS once (hopefully...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 Thanks for the good advice, everyone. I've decided to accept all of my interviews, barring any absolute conflicts. It might be rough, but I only get to do CaRMS once (hopefully...) good luck and have fun! The tour is a blast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostLamb Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 Calgary Psychiatry has Calgary applicants interview prior to the official period as well. I strongly recommend attending as many interviews as possible. Yes it is costly, and the travelling can be a significant challenge (I did the cross country trip twice as I was interviewing in two specialties) but I was still able to make it happen and I am sure glad that I did!! Places I would have never considered went up much higher on my rank list, other "dream" schools dropped. Similarly, if you're trying to decide between specialties you need exposure to many different interviews/locations to help sort out your choice. Even re-visiting the same site for a different specialty, I found there was definitely a different flavour. There were locations that I really wanted for one specialty but did not even consider ranking for the other specialty. It is a fascinating time...use it to your advantage, and of course, have fun while you're at it! Lots of social events and you make friends on the tour that you see again and again all over the country. It helps immensely when it comes to sharing cabs and finding rides! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOalexMD Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 Go to as many as possible! I actually learnt a lot about the different programs while I was on the tour. You get a chance to ask residents how they like their program and see if you think it's a good fit for how you'd like to train. My rank list definitely changed based on interviews. Don't let things like flight or hotel costs be your deciding factor... you will be making a doctor's salary one day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladymadchan Posted November 26, 2014 Report Share Posted November 26, 2014 Hi everyone! I've applied to FM. I'm from Ontario and have applied to the Ontario schools and OOP. Could people weigh in the number of interviews a FM applicant should have to say they've applied broadly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngdad Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 Depends what specialty and how competitive the spots are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloh Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 I did 9 in total and some of those were IM. The problem with FM interviews is that they are exhausting and anything but fun. A lot of them feel like conferences where a lot of stuff you hear you have no interest in. A case in point comes from the McMaster one where you get to sit and hear about EVERY single stream, some of which you don't really care at all. The smaller programs in other specialties tend to be a lot more fun whereas in family there's so many people you can't do much less than a giant conference hall. And often there's a lack of meaningful fun social events for the same reason. People that say CARMS was fun probably only applied to non-FM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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