How competetive is surgery residency?

[Guest mE]

Hi everyone,

 

does anyone know how competetive is plastics in Canada compared to U.S.?

[Guest Dakota82]

I would also like to know - from what I have been reading, it looks to be very difficult to get into US residency programs. Can anyone give some input as to what the top plastics programs are in Canada and the US?

[Guest cheech10]

Plastics is also a very difficult match in Canada. There are very few spots, so worrying about which programs are "best" is maybe not so useful. As for US programs, you'll get better info at http://www.studentdoctor.net, a more US based site.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

There are only ~12 official Plastics spots here in Canada, although at least one program that I know of often takes 1-2 extra students on top of their published quota of 2.

 

I have no clue as to how competitive Plastics residencies are in the US, but as already mentioned above, those 12 spots are in great demand here. I've heard good things about the following programs (from those currently working within academic Plastics): UBC, UofA, UofT, McMaster and Dalhousie. The others, except for McGill, I haven't heard anything about, and in terms of McGill, I've been working with a number of staff and residents who have expressed sadness as to the state of their surgical residency programs, overall. Apparently they've been in exsanguination mode for a while, i.e., losing staff at a rapid rate. (One of the newly minted trauma surgery staff at Sunnybrook completed his medical school and Gen Surg training at McGill and, although he'd love to stay in Montreal, and be with his family, he did not at all fancy the idea of staying within the McGill hospital system due to a bit of a crazed atmosphere.)

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen