Matching in Canada
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MATCHING IN CANADA G u i d e f o r i n t e r n a t i o n a l m e d i c a l g r a d u a t e s Garrett Robson ⧫ Sarah Douville ⧫ Brittany Salter ⧫ Laura Scott ⧫ Hava Starkman Questions? Please email [email protected]. DISCLAIMER This guide is solely the work of the authors and does not constitute an official opinion from any other organization, university, or third party unless otherwise stated. The authors of this guide intended this information to be applicable to international medical graduates (IMGs) in Australian medical schools; however, the content may be equally applicable to IMGs in other countries outside Canada as well. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations Page 3 Introduction Page 4 Other Options Page 6 The Complete Package Page 7 The Match Page 8 FIRST YEARS OF MEDICAL SCHOOL Update Your CV Page 9 Get Involved Page 9 Mentorship Page 10 Research Page 10 Observership Page 10 Get a GP / Family Doctor Page 11 Paperwork Page 11 Backup Plans Page 12 Friends and Support Network Page 12 Chosen Career Path Page 12 Number of IMG Spots Page 13 CLERKSHIP YEARS Canadian Electives Page 14 References Page 16 Physiciansapply Page 17 MCCQE1 Page 17 NAC OSCE Page 19 Costs Associated with Exams Page 21 CaRMS Signing Up Page 22 MSPR Page 23 Personal Letter Page 23 Interviews Page 24 Timeline Page 26 Frequently Asked Questions Page 27 ABBREVIATIONS CaRMS = Canadian Resident Matching Service CFPC = College of Family Physicians of Canada CMG = Canadian medical graduate — Someone who has graduated or will graduate from a medical school in Canada IMG = International medical graduate — Someone who has graduated or will graduate from a medical school outside Canada MCCQE1 = Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination 1 MMI = Multiple mini interview MSPR = Medical Student Performance Record NAC OSCE = National Assessment Collaboration Observed Structured Clinical Examination RCPSC = Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada ROL = Rank Order List ROMP = Rural Ontario Medical Program Page 3 INTRODUCTION Most of us vividly remember the moment Whether you are looking at this guide on we learned that we were accepted into a your first day of medical school abroad or medical program abroad. We were that well into your final year, we hope it will be much closer to reaching our goal of helpful. becoming a doctor. Once the excitement of acceptance wore off, anxiety set in. There are several aspects that require consideration for being a successful What did we need to do for a new life applicant back to Canada, and we will studying away from Canada? How could discuss each in turn. Alone, each factor we afford the tuition and living expenses? will not greatly increase your odds of Where would we live? What was the best becoming a successful applicant, but way to arrive at our new homes? each consideration is nevertheless important. Much of what you have to do While many of these questions were will not become relevant until you are answered by people, organizations, and approaching or in your clerkship (i.e., universities along the way, one question clinical rotation) years. would not be answered until far later: Despite this, there is still much you can do How would we get back to Canada to to be better prepared from your first few practice? days in medical school. This guide was created by several recent The process involved in securing a medical school graduates for the sole residency spot in Canada can be purpose of addressing the uncertainty hopelessly opaque at times—but it does regarding that final question. We will not need to be this way. attempt to illuminate our own understanding of what it took to prepare Our goal remains the same: If we can help for, apply to, and match to Canadian even one person become a more residency programs, and what you can do attractive applicant to Canadian residency during medical school abroad to make programs, then we will have considered yourself the best possible applicant. this guide a success. Many aspects of this collective information became clear to us throughout our years in medical school. To all your continued success, We hope this guide will give you the Garrett Robson information we struggled to find, and makes it easier for you to develop a working plan from day one. Page 4 OTHER OPTIONS We would be remiss if we did not state early in this guide that getting back to Canada as a resident will not be the goal of every IMG. It is, however, important to figure out early on in medical school which path you want to pursue, even while maintaining the possibility of a backup plan. This is not a simple decision to make, and much of the consternation around this decision lies in the fact it is not always self-evident what you need to know to apply to any of the training systems. As stated before, this guide hopes to make this process clearer and easier to understand. In certain places, such as Australia, there are often many opportunities post-graduation for Canadians and other international graduates to apply to and take part in domestic training programs. It is not the position of the authors to state that one training environment is inherently better or worse than another. If you want to complete your training in Australia, in Ireland, in the UK or elsewhere, great! If you want to come back to Canada to train, that is also great! Ultimately, you must decide which path to take depending on your own goals, wishes, and desires. Page 6 THE COMPLETE PACKAGE Before delving into individual aspects of a successful match applicant, we must outline what a complete package looks like, followed by a discussion of how the Match itself works. The following diagram illustrates the individual factors which may be considered by a residency program when deciding whether to offer a training position to an applicant. Figure 1: Individual factors which contribute to a successful match to a Canadian residency program as an IMG. Successful Match To do well in the Match, successful applicants will maximize their opportunities and exposure to ALL the areas mentioned above. We will discuss each in turn. Page 7 THE MATCH Try to explain the Match to a friend or family member not in the field of medicine and you will either receive a bewildered look or sympathetic laughter. The Match is an intriguing process almost completely unique to residency program matching in North America. Canada uses the algorithm underlying the Match for the Canadian Resident Matching System (CaRMS for short). The algorithm is complicated, but it is essentially a “best fit” model for matching applicants with training programs. After all the individual factors listed in the preceding section are considered, applicants and programs submit their Rank Order List (ROL). A ROL is a list of preferences from most to least preferred. For the applicant, they rank training programs; for programs, they rank applicants. Both lists are blinded, which means applicants cannot see how programs ranked them and programs cannot see how applicants ranked. Once this process is complete, the Match algorithm attempts to create the best possible scenario whereby the most applicants can be selected for training programs, taking into account preference order. A simplistic example is when an applicant and a program both rank each other first (most preferred). In this case, the applicant would successfully match to that program. What if a program does not want to train an applicant or an applicant does not want to work at a program for which they applied? Then do not add the applicant or program to the ROL, respectively. This is an imperfect process and it will always lead to situations whereby every applicant does not match. What it does accomplish, however, is ensuring that future residents are at programs they want to work in and that programs have desirable applicants for which they can train. With the help of this guide, we aim to help you become a more attractive applicant. Page 8 FIRST YEARS OF MEDICAL SCHOOL The rest of this guide has been divided chronologically from the start of medical school to Match Day. In doing this, we hope the process is clear and informative so you won't get lost in details that are irrelevant at the time. This first section will consider what a future applicant can do early on in his or her medical school career to maximize opportunities later on during the Match. Update Your CV Starting medical school is a major change in your life! Take the opportunity before medical school gets busier to update your CV, remembering it is one of the factors considered by future residency programs. Figure out when your expected graduation month and year are likely to be and update your CV accordingly. A secondary advantage of updating your CV now is that it will be easier to translate this information to a CaRMS application later on when you are applying, especially for accomplishments made before medical school. Remember to keep this information clear and concise. No one likes reading a 12-page novella of ramblings about your accomplishments. Look online for good example templates recommended by professional organizations. Get Involved Residency training programs like to see applicants with dedicated leadership experience and will often ask during interviews about times when leadership was demonstrated. Especially in the non-clinical years, it is important to get involved in clubs and organizations. Check to see if you have a dedicated student group at your school and what sort of academic, social, and community clubs you could join.