Psychiatry Residency

[Turk]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering how competitive it is to get into a psychiatry residency program in Canada as a CMG. I am interested in this specialty and wanted to see if there was anything I could do to boost my chances to get into a residency program in this specialty. Thanks! 

[Olaf]

I am interested in this as well! How can you make yourself a more competitive candidate? How important is research? I did a MSc in neuroscience that I did not enjoy doing and I'm hoping it will finally be useful for something lol

[Symphonie]

1 minute ago, Révolue said:

@Symphonie, this thread might interest you later.

Yep, thanks. I've seen it briefly, but tbh I have no idea what a CMG is. 

[Haribo7173]

Also interested

[ellorie]

I can only really speak to this as somebody who went through the process, as I have never been involved in selections as a resident.

Psychiatry is no plastic surgery, but it is becoming more competitive.  In my grad year (2015), though, I believe we had 7 matches to psychiatry and 6 got their top choice of program, including 4 to U of T, which is one of the more competitive psychiatry programs (along with Calgary and possibly UBC, is my informal understanding).

I would say that as long as you're doing something extracurricular-wise, just do what you like and what you feel will help with your development as a physician.  Research isn't required, but I think it's nice to have (I had some, but nothing major, mostly minor lit review type of things).  I also did some crisis line volunteering (I'd been doing it since undergrad) and some stuff around creative writing.  It gave me something to talk about in interviews.  I also joined the Canadian Psychiatric Association - it was free as a medical student, and I believe they sent me some free stuff.

Performance on rotations and networking are important.  I did some pre-clerkship observerships and electives in psychiatry, but the clerkship stuff and especially the 4th year electives were key.  Speak to residents at your home program, see if they can connect you with residents in other programs you're interested in.  DEFINITELY ask residents to read over your personal letters during CaRMS - I've done that for clerks before and most residents are happy to do it.  In terms of electives, if you are planning to apply broadly, makes sense to try to do at least some outside your home province.  Calgary in particular likes its own and my understanding is that if you don't have ties to the area and don't do an elective, it's unlikely to get an interview.  I did an elective there and it wasn't a great experience, though.  I did 4x 2 week electives and 1x 4 week elective at my top choice program (U of T).  I recommend electives in emergency psychiatry if possible - it's an area where clerks can get a lot of experience and chance to shine, and you get a lot of contact with staff and residents.  My elective in the psych emerg at Toronto Western Hospital was excellent.

If anybody has specific questions about my program or psych or whatever, feel free to ask or PM.

[Olaf]

2 minutes ago, ellorie said:

I can only really speak to this as somebody who went through the process, as I have never been involved in selections as a resident.

Psychiatry is no plastic surgery, but it is becoming more competitive.  In my grad year (2015), though, I believe we had 7 matches to psychiatry and 6 got their top choice of program, including 4 to U of T, which is one of the more competitive psychiatry programs (along with Calgary and possibly UBC, is my informal understanding).

I would say that as long as you're doing something extracurricular-wise, just do what you like and what you feel will help with your development as a physician.  Research isn't required, but I think it's nice to have (I had some, but nothing major, mostly minor lit review type of things).  I also did some crisis line volunteering (I'd been doing it since undergrad) and some stuff around creative writing.  It gave me something to talk about in interviews.  I also joined the Canadian Psychiatric Association - it was free as a medical student, and I believe they sent me some free stuff.

Performance on rotations and networking are important.  I did some pre-clerkship observerships and electives in psychiatry, but the clerkship stuff and especially the 4th year electives were key.  Speak to residents at your home program, see if they can connect you with residents in other programs you're interested in.  DEFINITELY ask residents to read over your personal letters during CaRMS - I've done that for clerks before and most residents are happy to do it.  In terms of electives, if you are planning to apply broadly, makes sense to try to do at least some outside your home province.  Calgary in particular likes its own and my understanding is that if you don't have ties to the area and don't do an elective, it's unlikely to get an interview.  I did an elective there and it wasn't a great experience, though.  I did 4x 2 week electives and 1x 4 week elective at my top choice program (U of T).  I recommend electives in emergency psychiatry if possible - it's an area where clerks can get a lot of experience and chance to shine, and you get a lot of contact with staff and residents.  My elective in the psych emerg at Toronto Western Hospital was excellent.

If anybody has specific questions about my program or psych or whatever, feel free to ask or PM.

Thank you