Reflections on CARMs presentation

Its daunting every time to read those statistics, even thought they havent changed much. That 44% number will probably get lower every year, as more CSAs will be applying from Carribeans, Australia, Ireland and other countries -- meanwhile, # of residencies will stay the same (based on CARMs CEO).

Its a lot easier, if you plan on doing GP. However, if you would like to try for a specialty residency, US is a better option by a lot. Just make sure its ACGME accredited.

I have some experience with IMGs who finally make it Canada and some don't. These individuals are brilliant people who go through enormous hardship to become certified. As a fully trained doctor in their home country, they might drive a cab or become a janitor in the hospital. They usually leave home at the peak of their career to find themselves doing these kind of jobs. It's tremendously sad.

If you are a Canadian studying abroad (CSA) you are doing so because you did not have the right GPA, MCAT or interview scores. There might be a few individuals who actually might have a legitimate reason, but for the most part CSAs are not brilliant students. They are mediocre students who are stubborn. (Mediocre student does not mean you are not intelligent)

These IMG quota residencies were made to alleviate the struggle of these IMGs. Not for CSAs. Yes, not for CSAs. Its important to set things straight in my opinion.

And even with our (overall) weaker MCCEE scores, we tend to have a higher chance of getting a residency. The residency, that was made for that middle aged frustrated cardiologist who has been picking up trash in the morning to pay bills for his/her family. Why?

1) It could be because CSAs tend to be younger. Resident directors prefer a clean slate

2) It could be because we talk, act and walk like Canadians. No language barrier issues, no clash of cultures etc.

Canada is supposed to a country for immigrants. In terms of job security, we treat our immigrants like crap. I've seen successful professionals get discriminated simply because of their accents or cultural differences, give up on their goals and settle for a menial job. This is wrong because a country which is made for immigrants should embrace accents and cultural differences in the work force. As a Canadian, I see that the government of Canada does embrace the cultural differences, but not employers. Employers tend to discriminate. Especially if you are a from a 3rd world country.

I believe, we CSAs are a part of that problem.

With our lower MCCEE scores, weaker GPAs/interview scores/MCAT scores (you could even argue weaker work ethic)................we take residencies from the IMG who worked extremely hard to get into medical school and worked hard to get that residency spot.............the IMG who is struggling to keep his/her family afloat in Canada...............simply because we're younger and we are Canadian.

Rather than integrating immigrants into Canadian society, these IMG quota residencies are being misused by Canadians for their own gains. That is un-Canadian. And I am a part of the problem.

Summarization of CARMs presentation today (2009 match)

The numbers look ok for us "Canadians studying abroad". Remember, by law, CARMs cannot discriminate between CSA and IMG. It is really important to understand that CSAs and IMG are treated excatly the same by CARMS and all medical bodies in Canada on the surface/legally.

However, you can gauge how well CSAs do specifically based on the year they graduate. In the 2009 match, most CSAs will have graduated in 2009 or 2008. Meanwhile IMGs tend to graduate a lot earlier since they have to do their training in their home country and then they migrate to Canada. Also note, these IMGs tend to be from India, Pakistan or China etc. IMGs from Australia or US tend to walk into Canada and work (they might have to do a few things here or there).

The numbers aren't pretty but here they are:

1) Overall, 1812 IMGs applied and 492 IMGs got residencies. Thats about 25%. This is a record high, and apparently funding for IMG residencies will not be increasing. Now its a matter of maintainence at this level. Infact, this % might even drop next year. So, as an IMG you have a 25% chance of getting a spot.

2) Now, 44% of CSA managed to get residencies. And out of that 44%.....84% had done an elective in Canada.
Two important points here:
This doesnt mean that if you are a CSA and you do an elective in Canada, there is an 84% chance you`ll get a residency.
This doesnt mean that those CSA who matched, got their 1st, 2nd or even 3rd preference.


3) Since its so important to get electives and they are in high demand, it matters who gets these electives. Ireland and Australian graduates tend to get most of the electives. But candidates will probably not get elective in the area they plan on doing their residency in (especially if its not FM or IM). These electives are the leftovers after Canadian medical students have their picks. But, you can arrange electives through contacts, so make those contacts!

3) MCCEE scores matter a lot. Resident directors rank their applicants based on their MCCEE scores and could make distinctions between someone who got 10 points more than another individual. So its not a matter of just passing it.

4) On average, IMGs do better on MCCEE than CSAs.

5) Doing residency in US, getting fully licensed there and then moving back is apparently a high probable strategy. Perhaps, you might have even better chances than getting a Canadian residency

6) Australian graduates tend to be slightly behind their Canadian counterparts in managing patient care as residents. But, this distinction disappears after 6 months. However, resident directors are aware of these issue and apparently its more labor intensive to train us than a fellow Canadian/American graduate.

7) As someone from Ontario and BC you have a slightly better chance of getting a residency. You're screwed if your from Alberta.

Update after a looong break

Hey guys,

You get two updates because I've been away for so long. It's been terribly busy and I think im a bit slow when it comes to writing out my thoughts. I need time to reflect, and I havent had that time recently.

Classes have been going excellent. My uni streams all their lectures online. This is absolutely huge. Rather than actually going to classes, I tend to stream them from home, pause when I get lost and memorize the lecture as it happens.

This tends to slow the process down: an hour lecture will take me 1.5 hours. But, I'll not only understand, I'll also memorize 80% of the material on the first attempt. And for courses like immunology, its an absolutely amazing feature. Im reviewing the entire block's worth of immunology now, and its so complicated that it would have taken me forever to memorize everything if I hadn't done it my slow way the first time.

The anatomy is taught decently well here. The amount of resources they give to aid you with your anatomy learning is great. I would like to do dissections, but ive realized that its more efficient time-wise, to learn my anatomy from prosections and ask a retired or currently practicing surgeon for help when i dont understand something. Yes.....surgeons...my uni is awesome.

All other courses arent that bad for me. Most Canadians students will find that a lot of material is quite basic. You definitely need to study those courses in more detail for your USMLE.

Thats all for med life. Coming very soon: reflections on the recent CARMS talk.