Elective Schedule -- Are Dal Med Students At A Disadvantage?

[btdubs]

I'm going to be a first-year at Dal in August, and I've been spending some time familiarizing myself with the curriculum in the last few days. I'm starting to get a little confused about electives in the third and fourth year, since it appears that all of third year consists of mandatory electives with no choice up until the last six weeks, when you can pick 2 of 9 options in surgical specialties (I'm getting this info from here).

Now, considering that the deadline for CaRMS interview invites is about 8 weeks into fourth year (meaning that, at best, there is room for 4 electives outside of Dalhousie before interview invites), does this put Dal students at a disadvantage in getting facetime in other departments around Canada? As far as I've heard (and I'm happy to be corrected if this is wrong), it is important to do on-site electives, especially for very competitive specialties, at as many locations across Canada as possible so that the likelihood of getting an interview invite are higher, as the staff already know you. Or is it the case that all electives (pre- and post-interview) are scheduled so far in advance and displayed on the applicant's CaRMS file so that institutions can see all electives taken before AND after interview invites are sent out? (I hope that made sense.) This would make an applicant seem more committed to a specialty, but it still doesn't solve the problem of maximizing outside facetime.

 

I'm asking about the disadvantage because, as I'm reading through this forum, it looks like some people at other medical schools are getting chances to do sub-specialty electives in their third year, whereas we would be limited to only the choices given in our mandatory rotations. 

 

Would love it if someone could clear this up. 

[A-Stark]

I don't think it makes much difference. I've known at least two Dal grads in my own time who went on to Toronto Derm. Make what you will of that. Either way, you're a long long way from CaRMS! Time to relax for the summer at least!

[Tullius]

n = 2

 

Can anyone else please comment on the original post?  It's a good question.

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