CharmingHedgehog Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 Western also requires you to do electives in multiple specialties. In a lot of anaesthesia program descriptions, they actually say they prefer candidates who did a "wide range" of electives, so I agonized over having 10+4 weeks of anaesthesia pre-carms. However, it ended up work out very well for me, because I had my elective in my first choice program right before carms was due, and I had lots of practice for the technical skills and answering pimping questions. I backed up with family and managed to fit 1 fam med elective in before carms, and one after. Still got a handful of interviews for both specialties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candiens12 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thanks for the replies. Earlier this week I was told by my faculty that my 8 weeks psych and 2 weeks family plan might not be a great a strategy (i.e no viable backup). Super confused/anxious now and wondering if I should switch to 6 weeks psych and 4 weeks family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Are you willing to move anywhere to do psych? If so, I would not be too anxious if it's actually what you want to do and family is just a backup. Psych, while more competitive this year, still has good odds when it comes to matching. While there are mental health issues addressed in a family clinic, the scope is quite different than psych. I'm sure you know that, but it's an important point to consider when planning electives to shape your application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candiens12 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 I was planning on applying to 10 programs for psych. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeping_sickness Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 I was planning on applying to 10 programs for psych. you'll be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 I was planning on applying to 10 programs for psych. That's quite broad. I would not worry about it if you are a strong psych applicant (i.e. have shown an interest in psych starting in preclerkship) and have solid letters of reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleDaisy Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Hey Jeanguy, Everybody whom I know this year who had put psychiatry as his or her first choice of program, they got into their first location (McGill, UBC, UdM, etc) ! I knew one person who had not done one elective in psy and got into psych at UdM this year (this person explained why he or she got interested in psychiatry in the letter). If you are motivated and have done 2 electives, I think that you are good to go You could back up with family medicine, but I believe (IMO) that if you are keen on psychiatry and you apply broadly, you will have a good chance of matching to psychiatry! Thanks for the replies. Earlier this week I was told by my faculty that my 8 weeks psych and 2 weeks family plan might not be a great a strategy (i.e no viable backup). Super confused/anxious now and wondering if I should switch to 6 weeks psych and 4 weeks family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candiens12 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 How many weeks of family pre carms is reasonable for a family. I'm only doing two weeks pre and two weeks post and was wondering if I should add on two more now even though it's late, just to be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 How many weeks of family pre carms is reasonable for a family back up option? Like the original poster I'm only doing two weeks pre and two weeks post and was wondering if I should add on two more now even though it's late, just to be safe. 2 FM electives is very reasonable. Especially if it's a backup. People realize that not all of your electives can be precarms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEAL Posted July 24, 2015 Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 Not all schools have identical elective times. Most, if not all schools, require you to take electives in more than one discipline. For example, at McGill, you had to do electives in at least 3 disciplines. How can a school impose any restrictions of any sort on how a student should spend his/her elective time ? What if I am only interested (or gunning for) 1 specialty ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitty Posted July 24, 2015 Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 How can a school impose any restrictions of any sort on how a student should spend his/her elective time ? What if I am only interested (or gunning for) 1 specialty ? Yeah it seems weird...perhaps they meant between electives total (post carms too) and selectives after interviews? for example, at U of T (and all schools?) you must do electives in at least 3 disciplines, but you can round this out using selectives also. Pre carms electives you are free to do everything in one discipline: In accordance with the AFMC guidelines for Electives, students are expected to complete Elective experiences in a minimum of three of the CaRMS first-level entry residency programs. The requirement for three disciplines may be achieved through any combination of Electives and the selective components of the Transition to Residency course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughboy Posted July 24, 2015 Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 How can a school impose any restrictions of any sort on how a student should spend his/her elective time ? What if I am only interested (or gunning for) 1 specialty ? 1) Because they said so full stop. 2) Spend time in related fields. Not that hard in the grand scheme of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEAL Posted July 24, 2015 Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 Okay another question: is everybody's R1 the same no matter what specialty they matched to ? Do all people have to follow the same basic rotations during R1 to prepare them for the MCCQE 2 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted July 24, 2015 Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 Okay another question: is everybody's R1 the same no matter what specialty they matched to ? Do all people have to follow the same basic rotations during R1 to prepare them for the MCCQE 2 ? Nope! Everyone's residency years are different depending on their residency program. It used to be the same, back in the days of the 1 year post-graduation internship. However, this is no longer the case. For example, peds residents basically never see an adult patient again. But they will encounter 'adult problems' on the mccqe2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEAL Posted July 24, 2015 Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 Why did they cancel the internship year ? To be honest, an internship year would have allowed everyone to really explore what they like in medicine. For some competitive specialties, if you decide that you want to do this specialty in M3 then you are too late ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted July 24, 2015 Report Share Posted July 24, 2015 Why did they cancel the internship year ? To be honest, an internship year would have allowed everyone to really explore what they like in medicine. For some competitive specialties, if you decide that you want to do this specialty in M3 then you are too late ! Basically to shorten training time and increase the number of family doctors faster. Here's an opinion piece you may be interested in: http://healthydebate.ca/opinions/should-we-embrace-a-return-of-the-rotating-internship I also want to say that, for competitive specialties, it's not too late if you decide on them during clerkship, Yes, it will be harder to match and you'll have to do more work to make yourself into a competitive applicant, but it happens to people every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughboy Posted July 25, 2015 Report Share Posted July 25, 2015 I miss brooksbane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medisforme Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Related question, Most residency programs on the Carms site state that they want at least one reference letter (usually out of 3) from that particular specialty. Does it look better to have 2 or even all 3 of the letters from that particular specialty or is it better to provide letters from a range of specialties? I can see in a surgical sub-specialty wanting as many letters from that specialty as possible. But for something like family (or other primary care specialities), does more than 1 letter from a family physician make your application more impressive or is it more beneficial to have letters from related specialties (ie. peds, IM, psych etc...). Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 It's better to have your letters be good, regardless of what specialty the person is in. If you are applying to family and have 1 family letter, 1 from an internist, and one from a pediatrician that are strong, it's just as good as 3 strong letters from family doctors. People will get into the same program with 3 letters from 3 different specialists and 3 letters from the same type of specialist. Carms is all about if people like you and want to work with you or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Related question, Most residency programs on the Carms site state that they want at least one reference letter (usually out of 3) from that particular specialty. Does it look better to have 2 or even all 3 of the letters from that particular specialty or is it better to provide letters from a range of specialties? I can see in a surgical sub-specialty wanting as many letters from that specialty as possible. But for something like family (or other primary care specialities), does more than 1 letter from a family physician make your application more impressive or is it more beneficial to have letters from related specialties (ie. peds, IM, psych etc...). Thanks. One thing a program director mentioned to us was that one of the best things you can have is someone from another specialty write you a letter and say that they wish you were going into their specialty. Obviously that's one opinion but I thought it was interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleDaisy Posted August 2, 2015 Report Share Posted August 2, 2015 Great to know that! I think that if you couldn't have 3 specialists' letters in the same field (especially for the competitive ones). You could always try other related specialties and hope that the specialist will write in their letters that they wish you were going into their specialty. One thing a program director mentioned to us was that one of the best things you can have is someone from another specialty write you a letter and say that they wish you were going into their specialty.Obviously that's one opinion but I thought it was interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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