So what happens if your letter to Santa, err, CaRMS comes back unfulfilled? What if you are one of the dreaded unmatched candidates??
Last year, 3.7% of candidates went unmatched - at least one per school.
The class of 2011 will find out on March 7, 2011 where we are going or if we are re-entering the CaRMS process.
Why candidates go unmatched can be for a number of reasons. If all the programs I apply to are filled up by the time I get that far down my list, it could be me (see “Ranking”). It’s not that I’m necessarily a terrible candidate, just that at some of the crucial points in the algorithm other candidates were better.
I’ve known candidates who did not receive interviews because of something as silly as their reference letters were not in on time.
Other candidates are incredibly specific about where they are applying to residency. If you only apply to one specialty in one program, you better be a crazy rock star or incredibly lucky.
Some candidates have made it through medical school despite being a menace to society - these are rare - and are found out by the residency committees who don’t rank the students to come to their school. The committees are trying to find people they can work with.
Last year, Gen Surg had the highest number of unmatched candidates (13), followed by Anesthesia (11). Family medicine, always touted as a safe bet, had 4 spots unmatched. (these numbers are looking at the first choice of specialty candidates were applying to).
58% of the vacant spots in residency last year were in Family Medicine (176). General surgery had 3 vacancies, anesthesia had 2. In these cases it can be that the programs were picky about their applicants or applicants hadn’t ranked the schools. Or any combination … voodoo!!
If you have ranked any programs, CaRMS will automatically enter you into the 2nd iteration. In this iteration, there are fewer candidates who are Canadian Medical Graduates, more International Medical Graduates and fewer spots overall you are competing for. As a rule, CMGs do better than IMGs if only because we understand how the Canadian Health care system works.
This is the summary of vacancies to be filled in the second iteration in 2010 Every year is a little different.
The 2nd iteration goes faster than the first but is otherwise the same. After finding out on Match Day that you are unmatched, you go over your portfolio to make sure everything is in, apply to the schools and away you go. I’m not sure you interview again, it’s not explicitly said on the CaRMS website Then your new Match Day is April 13.
If the gods are not smiling on you, as sometimes happens, you end up in the scramble. Essentially, CaRMS only takes you through the second iteration and it’s up to you to take it from there. Our Student Affairs office helps students who reach this point. The students find out which programs still have vacancies and talk to them directly about taking a spot. Again, it’s not just the duds who are left unmatched at this point, it’s also the incredibly unlucky and those who have just made poor choices.
I prefer to emphasize the unlucky though - I feel it will bolster my karma.
Rather than enter the 2nd iteration though, some candidates decide to do a year of research to beef up their resume. There are pros and cons to this. Obvious pro is a beefier resume. Cons include the fact that the longer you are away from clinical experience, the harder it is to match (can’t find the stats, just remember that being emphasized at a conference CaRMS talk I was at). When you are away from med school but not in residency yet, it’s difficult to have insurance covered and so you are not permitted to work with patients. Yuck.
What must be almost as bad as not getting the program you wanted, is having to tell your classmates that you’ve gone unmatched. One of the past year’s plays was about going unmatched. It’s a very scary, very real thing. So many assume that they will get everything they want - it’s been happening for them their entire lives, hard to imagine it would just stop now.
I hope that any folks in my class who do go unmatched feel supported by the rest of the class.
Last year, 3.7% of candidates went unmatched - at least one per school.
The class of 2011 will find out on March 7, 2011 where we are going or if we are re-entering the CaRMS process.
Why candidates go unmatched can be for a number of reasons. If all the programs I apply to are filled up by the time I get that far down my list, it could be me (see “Ranking”). It’s not that I’m necessarily a terrible candidate, just that at some of the crucial points in the algorithm other candidates were better.
I’ve known candidates who did not receive interviews because of something as silly as their reference letters were not in on time.
Other candidates are incredibly specific about where they are applying to residency. If you only apply to one specialty in one program, you better be a crazy rock star or incredibly lucky.
Some candidates have made it through medical school despite being a menace to society - these are rare - and are found out by the residency committees who don’t rank the students to come to their school. The committees are trying to find people they can work with.
Last year, Gen Surg had the highest number of unmatched candidates (13), followed by Anesthesia (11). Family medicine, always touted as a safe bet, had 4 spots unmatched. (these numbers are looking at the first choice of specialty candidates were applying to).
58% of the vacant spots in residency last year were in Family Medicine (176). General surgery had 3 vacancies, anesthesia had 2. In these cases it can be that the programs were picky about their applicants or applicants hadn’t ranked the schools. Or any combination … voodoo!!
If you have ranked any programs, CaRMS will automatically enter you into the 2nd iteration. In this iteration, there are fewer candidates who are Canadian Medical Graduates, more International Medical Graduates and fewer spots overall you are competing for. As a rule, CMGs do better than IMGs if only because we understand how the Canadian Health care system works.
This is the summary of vacancies to be filled in the second iteration in 2010 Every year is a little different.
The 2nd iteration goes faster than the first but is otherwise the same. After finding out on Match Day that you are unmatched, you go over your portfolio to make sure everything is in, apply to the schools and away you go. I’m not sure you interview again, it’s not explicitly said on the CaRMS website Then your new Match Day is April 13.
If the gods are not smiling on you, as sometimes happens, you end up in the scramble. Essentially, CaRMS only takes you through the second iteration and it’s up to you to take it from there. Our Student Affairs office helps students who reach this point. The students find out which programs still have vacancies and talk to them directly about taking a spot. Again, it’s not just the duds who are left unmatched at this point, it’s also the incredibly unlucky and those who have just made poor choices.
I prefer to emphasize the unlucky though - I feel it will bolster my karma.
Rather than enter the 2nd iteration though, some candidates decide to do a year of research to beef up their resume. There are pros and cons to this. Obvious pro is a beefier resume. Cons include the fact that the longer you are away from clinical experience, the harder it is to match (can’t find the stats, just remember that being emphasized at a conference CaRMS talk I was at). When you are away from med school but not in residency yet, it’s difficult to have insurance covered and so you are not permitted to work with patients. Yuck.
What must be almost as bad as not getting the program you wanted, is having to tell your classmates that you’ve gone unmatched. One of the past year’s plays was about going unmatched. It’s a very scary, very real thing. So many assume that they will get everything they want - it’s been happening for them their entire lives, hard to imagine it would just stop now.
I hope that any folks in my class who do go unmatched feel supported by the rest of the class.
6 comments:
Going unmatched is like getting the scarlet letter.
The system is stacked against you if you dont match. Switching is rare (unless you want to be a family doc, then its encouraged).
I went unmatched years ago. I'm still sick over it. I dislike my current career choice and cannot get out of it.
I feel useless and stupid everyday.
I hate it.
Still here. Still feel like a freak. A piece of shit.
You're right. The longer you're out of the system, the worse it is.
It sucks that you've worked this hard to get somewhere and are still stuck on the bench as the last one to get picked.
However, it's not all doom and gloom.
I've seen second year residents switch to cardiac surgery, plastics, psychiatry. It doesn't have to be FM. Getting your foot in the door and taking a position can only help.
I've also seen the unmatched get matched to ophthalmology in the first iteration the second time round.
I'm sorry your experience has been so crummy, but I'm sincerely grateful that its not common.
Have you seen a final year resident switch out from a crap specialty in a crap location, into a specialty that not just anyone can walk into, like family? I haven't.
Counting the days until retirement.
Que diront les IMG???
Certains étaient d'imminents médecins dans divers spécialités, ici ils n'arrivent meme pas à décrocher un poste d'étudiant dans une région des plus défavorisée.Cependant je vous dis ne désespérer pas et je vous conseil de lire le livre de Fank O'DEA intitulé: WHEN ALL YOU HAVE IS HOPE... Vous comprenderz querien n'est impossible.
Unmatched`s wife.
I`m a wife of an unmatched IMG. and I think this is the worst that could happen to a very good doctors in theirs countries. Is studpid to have a number of CMQ and not to able to have patients. What is for??? is matter of money for CMQ and for CARMS and for the system. Is unmiserable to play with the hopes of the people. Only 10% get a match. What happens with the other 90%. Taxi drivers, retail positions, some never work because they are over and over qualified to work in dollarama or Tim Hortons. Finally they are doctors without hope, without simple job, without family, without nothing. Just live for nothing. Cruel but true.
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