Elective Opportunities In Fm & Other

[johnstickienote]

I'm wondering if any NOSM folks, current or former, could shed some light on the opportunites to gain experience in disciplines outside of primary care during the MD program.

 

What opportunities might be available to students across their training to gain exposure to NON-primary care fields (and become competitive for) those residencies? I know summers are prime time for electives, but I have heard NOSM doesn't have "electives" in summer 1 (they are SEEs); and third year doesn't have any specific elective time either.  Is there a limit to how many SEEs you can do in summers 1 &2? Would a student find it difficult to pursue electives that are not primary-care oriented across their training?

 

A year-to-year breakdown of how many electives / when you do them would be infinitely helpful for any of those in the know.

 

Does anybody know the breakdown by specialty matched for NOSM grads? Usually, there's some percentage that's reported specific to grads who've matched to FM, but I haven't been able to locate the breakdown for other disciplines

 

NOTE:

I guess I'm trying to get a handle on how straightforward (and available) it is to pursue electives and experiences in (sub)specialized disciplines enough that the person can be competitive for those disciplines come CaRMS? This is not out of ignorance of NOSM's model -simply honest curiosity about perspectives from who are going through the program.

 

 

[medicallyinclined]

Also very interested in this.

[lwu018]

I'm wondering if any NOSM folks, current or former, could shed some light on the opportunites to gain experience in disciplines outside of primary care during the MD program.

 

What opportunities might be available to students across their training to gain exposure to NON-primary care fields (and become competitive for) those residencies? I know summers are prime time for electives, but I have heard NOSM doesn't have "electives" in summer 1 (they are SEEs); and third year doesn't have any specific elective time either.  Is there a limit to how many SEEs you can do in summers 1 &2? Would a student find it difficult to pursue electives that are not primary-care oriented across their training?

 

A year-to-year breakdown of how many electives / when you do them would be infinitely helpful for any of those in the know.

 

Does anybody know the breakdown by specialty matched for NOSM grads? Usually, there's some percentage that's reported specific to grads who've matched to FM, but I haven't been able to locate the breakdown for other disciplines

 

NOTE:

I guess I'm trying to get a handle on how straightforward (and available) it is to pursue electives and experiences in (sub)specialized disciplines enough that the person can be competitive for those disciplines come CaRMS? This is not out of ignorance of NOSM's model -simply honest curiosity about perspectives from who are going through the program.

 

Best place to get stats on matching is CaRMS - http://www.carms.ca/en/data-and-reports/r-1/

Here is a link to the most recent match results - http://www.carms.ca/assets/upload/Match%20reports/2014%20R-1%20match/EN/Table%2027%20-%20Match%20Results%20of%20CMGs%20by%20School%20of%20Residency%20-%20Discipline_English.pdf

 

As for the Special Educational Experiences (SEEs), they can be carried out with any specialty and must be a minimum of 4 weeks. I know a couple colleagues who are completing SEEs with surgical subspecialists and others who will be doing theirs with family docs. While most people do SEEs during the summer, other type of electives can be arrange during the academic year if you can manage it into your schedule. During our March break, for example, one of my colleagues completed a one week elective in medical genetics down in Toronto and another was with a general surgeon and got to assist in a inguinal hernia repair and some other operations. Most of these types of electives can be arranged during Phase 1 of the program (i.e. years 1&2).

 

I should also note that many phase 1 students get exposure to specialist fields through the community integrated learning (CIL) experiences. For example, a few of my CILs consisted of several half or full days in cardiodiagnostics and joint assessment clinics. However, CIL placements are randomly assigned and not everyone got placements in medical specialties. At the beginning of the year, you indicate what your interests and experiences are and they try to take that into account when assigning.

 

As I can't speak from personal experience about exposure to specialist fields outside of Phase 1, I will let someone else hopefully respond re: this part of the program (hoping Real Beef can chime in hear).

 

Hope this helps and feel free to ask further questions.

[lwu018]

On an unrelated note, since the big day is coming up soon, I want to wish you all the best of luck and greatly look forward to meeting some of you next year! And for those that aren't so lucky this year, I hope you remain persistent. The majority of our class has applied at least 2-3 times. I applied 5 times before finally getting in and I am so grateful for all those repeated attempts as it has made me that much more grateful everyday to be part of this amazing school.

 

Excited and anxious for you all

 

L

[johnstickienote]

Thanks so much lwu018! That is amazingly comprehensive! Thanks also for the links to the specific CaRMS tables- there are so many to go through, it gets quite difficult to know quite exactly what you are looking at (at least when youre at my stage of the game!). Does NOSM help you find SEEs, or do you find them yourself? Is there any support from the school if the preceptor isnt a NOSM faculty member?

Thanks so much!

JSN