2 vs. 4-week electives in Quebec?

[Doctor_Dre]

Hello,

I am currently selecting my electives for next year, hoping to match to Radiology in Quebec. Coming from Ottawa where we only have 10 weeks pre-carms to do electives, we usually do 5 x 2-week electives. However, I am aware in Quebec that students have 16-20 weeks of pre-carms electives, and they tend to do 4-week electives in specialties and schools that they are highly considering in order to show their interest. It is also advantageous for them in that they don't tend to apply as broadly as Anglophone students. I was just wondering, would I look competitive or show enough interest if I were to just do 2-week Radiology electives at different schools in Quebec (UdeM, McGill, Sherbrooke) ?

Thanks in advance.

[DermJuly2018PGY1]

DO NOT DOUBLE POST

[Doctor_Dre]

11 hours ago, DermJuly2018PGY1 said:

DO NOT DOUBLE POST

I apologize for this, I originally posted in the ''electives'' section but then soon realized it would pertain more to recently-matched applicants since they might have a better idea on how to plan electives more ideally. I tried to remove my old post but couldn't figure out how, and so now I just edited it to say it is discontinued. Won't happen again

[FailureToThrive]

Interested as well. BUMP

[FailureToThrive]

At my Quebec school (sherbrooke), we only have 10 weeks of pre-carms electives. 

I plan on doing mostly 2 week electives.

[F508]

@MDLaval might be able to answer more specifically for radiology?

[MDLaval]

On 4/18/2018 at 2:49 AM, Doctor_Dre said:

Hello,

I am currently selecting my electives for next year, hoping to match to Radiology in Quebec. Coming from Ottawa where we only have 10 weeks pre-carms to do electives, we usually do 5 x 2-week electives. However, I am aware in Quebec that students have 16-20 weeks of pre-carms electives, and they tend to do 4-week electives in specialties and schools that they are highly considering in order to show their interest. It is also advantageous for them in that they don't tend to apply as broadly as Anglophone students. I was just wondering, would I look competitive or show enough interest if I were to just do 2-week Radiology electives at different schools in Quebec (UdeM, McGill, Sherbrooke) ?

Thanks in advance.

At Laval we have 2 x 3 weeks electives in 3rd year and 3 x 4 weeks (or 2 x 4 weeks + 2 x 2 weeks) electives in 4th year. But there's a catch for the 4th year, since 50% of the students will only get 4 weeks electives BEFORE CaRMS deadline, with another 4 weeks in January and the last 4 in March, while 50% of the students have 8 weeks before CaRMS.

Also, at Laval we all have a 2 weeks mandatory rotation in Radiology, so it definitely helps to get those 2 weeks before CaRMS.

From my experience, you'll definitely look competitive by simply showing up for observerships (even though it's broadly informed they don't count, I realised they DO count to Rads programs in QC - and it was confirmed by a PD in a private conversation). I did a 3 weeks elective in Rads in my 3rd year, then my 2 weeks mandatory rotation in August, and another 4 weeks in Nuclear Medicine.

My suggestion (and that's all that it is): if you're thinking about matching to Rads in QC, do at least 2 weeks in one of the francophone programs (to show you're willing to move to QC and that French won't be a problem to you) and if you're aiming for McGill try to get another 2 weeks there. I didn't do Rads elective at UdeM or Sherbrooke, but I got interviews at both programs and I had a good feeling about my chances of matching there had I put them 1st in my ROL.

Feel free to contact me in private if you have any further questions.  

Best of luck!