What's the lifestyle (hours, call, vacation weeks) like for a psychiatrist? I've heard it's one of the lower paying specialties, and while money isn't the most important thing to me I still want to make sure you can earn a good living in this economy.

Resharing previous year's posts:

Congrats class of 2025 on getting through the CaRMS interview period! Linking the same information that is being shared on other platforms as a reminder that you should make sure your rank list reflects the true order of your residency training preferences, and not based on what any program tells you whether officially or unofficially.

The algorithm favours the applicants, not the programs: more specifically, CaRMS uses the nobel-prize winning Gale-Shapely stable-marriage algorithm and goes down each medical student's rank order list with the objective of matching that students' highest choice to the program with no higher ranked applicants filling up all the seats.

There's unfortunately a lot of misinformation out there and I remember hearing statements from programs that showed a lack of understanding of the process i.e. "you should rank us high or else you’ll have no chance of matching here.”

Video below from CaRMS going over the algorithm:

https://youtu.be/28CvXJ_DcGo?si=WyzFgnh4mQZHO5G7

For those who are feeling a bit neurotic, there are many very good hypothetical scenarios laid out here on the Algorithm FAQ "What If" page on CaRMS: https://www.carms.ca/the-match/how-it-works/what-if/

Also good information on the General Algorithm FAQ CaRMS Page: https://www.carms.ca/the-match/how-it-works/general/

Best of luck making your rank lists!

did you know you were going to get selected or was it by "luck"

How many emerg shifts do residents (R1) work per rotation at each Canadian school?

I feel like no matter how much I study, I forget a ton of stuff after a few weeks, which makes prepping for exams and rotations stressful. Active recall + spaced repetition seem to work best, but manually making Anki cards takes forever.

Has anyone found a good way to streamline studying without spending hours making flashcards?

Obviously your chance of matching to a residency that didn't interview you is 0 (or basically 0), but the official CaRMS position is to rank in order of preference not interview status. Is anyone here ranking programs that didn't interview them? Any specific strategy you are using to this or are there downsides to following the CaRMS strategy I can't think of?

To those of you who have worked alongside the new classmate who gets added to your MS3 class for clerkship, how does it work? This question only applies to UWO, Laval, Dal, and McGill students.

My question is, I know evals are VERY important in clerkship, but how would those evals work if you're already in your specialty program like an OMFS? Do they pull their weight / get involved or do they do the bare minimum? Also, do they get to know the rest of the cohort? Or do they kinda stay in their own lane based on the hospital / clinic they're placed in for their rotations?

Are any of you close with the OMFS resident(s) that get added to your cohort? How do you feel about them professionally? I have heard of one resident that was super arrogant and would correct the other students when they did not call him 'Dr' since he was already DMD. How do you feel about them getting an MD in just 2 years? How do you feel about them being in your white coat ceremony?

I am just looking for some info on how the integration looks like from the perspective of you MS3s and MS4s since it is almost impossible to find a OMFS resident in Canada to talk to.

I know discussing specifics of the interview isn’t allowed. But it’s just me or was that the most rushed interview of all the anesthesiology program interviews??? Like v rushed

essentially the title.
from my understanding, it's usually 4 days a week 8 am - 5 pm clinic, 1 OR day a week 7 am - 6pm, and then 1 on call day per week (5 pm - 8 am) and one on call weekend per month.
am i offbase? is residency different? i know its probably different everywhere, but just an average idea would be great!

If you now have the power to change/remove/add anything to med school curriculum in Canada, what would you do?

How competitive was pediatrics this year in terms of interviews?

Since QC doesn’t offer anything for out of province, and Feds don’t offer anything for QC…

Wondering if any other QC people have become ON residents and then became eligible for loans and bursaries from ON and Feds?

If so, what was the process?

I have seen several clinic-only urology practices (mainly sexual health). Is there any way for ENTs to practice clinically primarily?

Just out of curiosity

I just completed my IM interview at my top choice school and they asked pretty straightforward questions. I usually speak very confidently and come out of interviews feeling good about myself.

But since this was my top choice school, I was so nervous my mouth kept getting dry which made me stumble over some words a few times. I even had to drink water in the middle of one of my answers.

I answered all the questions and didn’t think they were particularly tricky. But I’m feeling sad that I might not have come off as confident and assured as I usually do and now I’m worried that I likely wont match there.

Sad 😔

I need some help/advice with ranking family Med programs in Ontario as I'm an IMG. What each program is known for in terms of education/exposure, workload/flexibility, support/vibe between residents and with staff and so on

• university of Toronto
• Queen's
• mcmaster
• Ottawa
• western university
• Toronto Metropolitan university
• NOSM

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you

Hey everyone! I'm a MS2 who's been having trouble finding housing for my UBC visiting elective from May 12-25. Typical Airbnb websites are really expensive and MedHousing has a lot of listings that aren't updated and I haven't gotten a response from most. Is there any other resource I can search or is anyone looking to rent their place for those dates? Thanks!

Our admin have not been the best about giving us information re: fourth year and i’d be very interested to see what electives are open for OOP students, but i have no idea where to look… Can someone help me out? :)

Anyone else feeling really down about how their interviews are going? 😢 How we feeling

View Poll

Hello everyone,

Im a med 2 student (halfway through the year) gearing towards IM and maybe anesthesia as a second option, although IM is really the goal. Up until this point, I haven't done anything for my CV (which I know is probably a bad look) as I wanted to be really open minded during first year before committing to any specialty, and also wanted to have have a good school-life balance. I've done a bit of shadowing and I think IM is for me for several reasons. I've heard mixed things about IM when it comes to Carms, especially schools in quebec (where I'm from). Some years can be competitive, while others not really.. I met with an academic advisor this week and still am pretty confused as to what I should be focusing on for my CV (I read the canmeds website/program objectives for the schools, but they can be pretty vague). Does anyone have advice as to how much time I should start dedicating to things for my CV (i.e how many clubs/research papers/extra-curriculars should I start doing or aim for by the end of med2)? I'd rather be hit with brutal honesty as well lolol and while I know some people match with less experience than others, I want to give it my all and try not to be the exception to the rule. Any advice is appreciated, thank you so much!!!

Would joining a new program, TMU IM, be a problem if I want to continue and apply for specialties, as they only have geriatric inhouse?

Wondering if we can collate a list with each program of how many they interview vs how many spots, that folks are aware of

Seems most of the pages on carms are out of date for their % interviewed with the rising popularity of the specialty

1. UBC interviews ~85, 20 CMG spots (based on town hall)
2. McMaster interviews ~80-85, 10 CMG spots
3. Ottawa interviews 40
4. McGill interviews 70-80

Please add any other stats you are aware of to the comments :)

About 5 months out, have an away (AFMC) that I confirmed a few weeks ago that I am not interested in anymore due to wanting another school. Is it unprofessional to cancel and will it negatively impact chances of interview?

Hi, little stressed M1 here. Since the start of med school, i have this constant feeling that i’m not supposed to be here and its only a matter of time before I fail out. Its honestly getting really annoying because i’ll have exams and i need to spend like the first hour trying to calm myself down because i have this constant screaming in my head repeating “you’ll never be a dr, you’ll never be a dr” to the point that i can barely focus on the questions and reassure myself that i know this and i got this. The worst part is that it’s not even a question of difficulty. I don’t find the curriculum that difficult (ofc its hard, but its on par with the level of my gnarly bsc), its really more tgat I feel like its wrong for me to be studying medicine, i’m not smart enough, etc. I’m hoping that moving towards clerkship, this feeling will go away because I thrive during our 1x/week clinical day, and really feel as though I beling but man, written exam are a constant mental combat for me. Has anyone else felt/ been feeling this way? If you’re more advanced in the curriculum and managed to ease this, do you have any tips and tricks? Also if you’re going through this, know you’re not alone 🫂

I have Feb 6 morning and I'm looking for Feb 3 or Feb 4 at any time. I have a conflicting interview and this can give you a few extra days to prepare.

The administrator is aware and if you want to switch just msg me and we can arrange. Thanks!

Currently applying to IM residency and I've read that Canadian IM can only apply to specialties 1 time, otherwise they have to continue pgy4 and become internists. Would a Canadian pgy3, 4, and/or pgy5 still apply to usa IM specialties? Thanks

Hi everyone! I have a month-long elective coming up at Kingston General Hospital, and I’m trying to figure out my accommodation. Some of the Airbnb options I’ve found are ridiculously expensive, so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for more budget-friendly alternatives. Thanks in advance!

I haven’t been, but someone mentioned this to me. I thought this wasn’t a thing in Canada. For more competitive specialties, are you supposed to do it? And who are you supposed to send it to, the admin or PD?

I'm interviewing for both IM and Radiation Oncology residency positions this cycle and feeling really torn about ranking. I like both for different reasons (yes, I made a pros and cons list for both 😅) and know I would be happy in either. Yet, I'm still struggling to make the "right" choice. I would really appreciate if anyone has applied or been accepted to either and to give me your pros and cons. For those in residency, what are the things you'd wish you'd known before applying - good and bad.

I really appreciate it! :)

yes i’m still getting these emails and it’s been 4 years 🤣😭