Humans of CaRMS – Family Medicine 11

[acc-trig title=”Which specialty did you match into? And where?”]
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Family Medicine, Rural Portage stream

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[acc-trig title=”At what point in medical school did you know what specialty you wanted to match into?”]
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I’m from rural MB and had known prior to medical school that I wanted to do rural family medicine.

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[acc-trig title=”Do you feel that your choice of electives had any impact on your CaRMS match?”]
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Yes. I had done an elective in Portage just before interviews and prior to that I didn’t know very much about the program. Doing an elective there allowed me to learn more about it, that I wanted to train there, and I think it allowed the preceptors and program director to get to know me and see if I was a good fit for the program.

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[acc-trig title=”What did you do with your Med 1 and Med 2 summers?”]
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I was a part of the Home for the Summer program in both Med 1 and Med 2. I definitely recommend it, for great experience and if rural family is anywhere on your radar.

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[acc-trig title=”What was the most valuable lesson or experience you had while going through the match process?”]
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Through your clerkship rotations, if you get a good evaluation and think this physician will remember you and write a good reference letter, ask for one. It’s never too early to ask. Be true to yourself and shoot for the moon. Rank the programs based on what you want, not based on who you think will take you. If you’re nervous, tell yourself you’re excited. It helps. (Thanks Dr Horton for that gem).

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[acc-trig title=”If you could go back and change anything during pre-clerkship or clerkship, what would you change?”]
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Write down your memorable clinical experiences and patient interactions (CanMEDS roles, how you handled a conflict, lessons learned…). It comes in very handy for CaRMS interviews.

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[acc-trig title=”What did you do in your four years of medical school that you found to be the most helpful during the CaRMS process?”]
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Do something other than school during med school, whether it is getting involved or playing sports or so on. Do something you’re passionate about. I had several CaRMS questions about my interests and things I do outside of medicine to keep sane. Not only will it be good for CaRMS, it will probably keep you sane.

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[acc-trig title=”Do you have any final words of wisdom or advice?”]
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Have fun and tell your story!

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Interview provided by Janine Grenier – umgren32@myumanitoba.ca

Kristen Braun

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