1st year meds marks and residency matching

[bunni]

Hi!

I will be entering my first year of medical school in the fall and I was just wondering if it is true that your first year marks count for only 5% of your residency matching.

If anyone knows the answer to this question I'd appreciate it if you could reply!

Thanks! :)

[Ian Wong]

It sure doesn't count for much. On the other hand, the work ethic and ability to balance your life in Med 1 and 2 will come into play in Med 3 for sure. Also, there is some carry-over of your knowledge base into your rotations. With that said, for the actual selection of residents, I think your pre-clinical marks matter little. No one cares if you can memorize the number of interleukins in an inflammatory cascade.

Ian
UBC, Med 3

[bunni]

Hi,

Thanks for your immediate response. I guess knowing that the marks don't matter too much will take some of the pressure off! Of course, as always, I will try my hardest! It's just that, for the last years I worked so hard to get where I am now and I keet hearing from everyone that undergrad was only the beginning of an extremely stressful process. I know that's true but at least I can relax a bit knowing that my marks for next year will not significantly impact on my residency matching.

[UWOMED2005]

The advice I've heard from a number of 3rd years and 4th years is 'enjoy' 1st and 2nd year. Definitely work hard. . . you don't want to be the moron on rounds in 3rd year who doesn't know the difference between the heart and the liver (okay, that's an exageration. . . you want to know a bit more than that. :) ) But my understanding is that you also don't want to be the med student who burned themselves in 1st and 2nd year because they were constantly stressing themselves to memorize every cytokine, every bacterium, every single interaction every single drug. . . you get the picture. My understanding is that even 1st and 2nd year really are just an 'introduction' to medicine. And don't forget from this point on it's not what you can memorize and regurgitate for an exam. . . it's what you can remember when you're working with patients, a couple of years down the road.

[bunni]

I will do my best to enjoy my first two years of medical school! It's nice to hear some positive things since lately people have been posting how stressful and awful the first two years of meds are!! (Did you read the thread started by Dr. Sad?)

UWOMED2005, I hope my experience at U of T is as positive as yours at Western (I read your post in the UWO forum called med@uwo). I did my undergrad there and absolutely loved the school!!! The profs are amazing (I know some of the ones that teach meds) and they are really there to help you. I made some wonderful friends who supported me through my four years there. I also know people in med school there and know a bit about the program (I was always hanging around med sci in my 4th year) and it sounds great. I could go on and on about why UWO is the best and I'm just worried that U of T's program does not have as much to offer.

Oh well. We will all come out with the same degree so ultimately, it doesn't really matter. Sorry to whine and complain! (I am thrilled that I'm going to medical school next year, I just have some worries, that's all.)

[UWOMED2005]

I'm sure you'll have a great time. There might be moments you feel like Dr. Sad (med school is stressful at times. . . not sure if you read my reply as well) but if you're able to keep everything in perspective you'll be fine.

BTW - if you meet a guy in September with the initials JS who went to a small school in Halifax (as well as McGill), tell him "Rader" (pronounced "Raider" as in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or the Oakland Raiders) said hi. JS is a solid guy.

[bunni]

I will look out for JS! Glad to hear there's at least one good person in my class!

[UWOMED2005]

I'm sure there'll be more than that.

[neula]

i think you might begin by taking a deep breath and trying to relax...from the sound of your posts you seem very wound up--you might want to consider some ways of coping with stress before you start school in 6 weeks, because although Uof T is great, it can be very stressful if you allow it to be.
just trying to help out...

[V]

Bunni,

Is this who I think it is?

[UofCMeds2005]

Also, when thinking about how marks impact residency match - remember that there are some canadian med schools that don't even have marks. ie. calgary and mac have p/f - no honours!

[therealcrackers]

a graduating 4th year told me first year was worth 4% of your CaRMS matching score.
Second year was worth 6%.
And all your clinical work, third /fourth was worth 90%, but that doing well on THAT was dependent on having learned the stuff from the first two years, rather than merely regurgitated. A failing mark or low pass in anatomy might mean you won't get into the surgical subspecialty of your choice, but it's not the end of the world...

[UWOMED2005]

And there is sometimes the possibility of switching programs once you're in.

[Carolyn]

JJ is correct - but that is much more of a reality in Ontario as there are many more positions and as I understand the switching is really a factor of enough people wanting to switch that there is room to switch (hopefully that makes sense)....

Just this week a resident referred to the system as getting in the back door... She was recommending applying to other five year programs so if I don't get into my first choice I can switch in after my first year of the rotating internship and that it is pretty easy (At least so she says). As I understand it, each individual school is given a certain number of funded spots and then divides up those spots among the programs. So while a certain program may only have one spot, the program may wish for more and as long as it ends up being okay with the post-grad dean's office they are quite happy to take on more residents in their year. Apparently some programmes such as internal medicine take on a certain number of spots with the assumption that they will end up with less residents after a couple people switch out in the first couple of years... Please note this is all Hearsay and it kind of surprised me how easy it all sounded but I'd be interested in what others have heard about this switching business

I have met a number of people who have switched, Including a friend who was in family, switched to peds and is now doing a heme-onc peds fellowship at sick kids...

It is nice to know that CaRMS doesn't dictate your future as firmly as we all seem to believe...

[UWOMED2005]

Yeah - I've heard a bunch of rumours/stories surrounding the subject. I think it's a bit complicated. . . the kind of thing you don't really need to worry about until you GET to the CaRMS match. But theoretically it's possible with certain programs.