When I became a medical student, I was astounded by the number of opportunities available. The more I looked, the more awesome things I found. My interests in policy and leadership development led me into a number of roles with my medical student society and a summer working in the Canadian Medical Association Leadership in Medicine office as an intern (program now sadly defunct) were the highlights. These experiences led me to discover …
CaRMS Rodeo – How to prepare for a crazy ride
In the Canadian Residency Matching Service(CaRMS) applicants apply to all programs and, if selected for interview, rank these programs. The residency programs also rank all the interviewees [which is becoming increasingly difficult]. The computer spits out a match. In bull riding, the rider is matched to the bull randomly before the competition, however, since 2008 some ranked riders are allowed to choose their own bulls from a bull draft for selected rounds in PBR …
The Reference Letter Toolkit
With the CaRMS process fast approaching, medical students across the country have started putting together applications. When not battling procrastination on the part of the application that students do have control over (i.e., the personal letter and CV) , many students stress about the other part of the application that they feel they have less control over: the mysterious and all-important reference letter (1,2). As a student in EM, you will work with …
How to survive (and like) your emergency medicine clerkship core rotation
Chances are that if you are reading this blog post you already have an interest in emergency medicine. In fact, you’ve probably spent countless hours learning about the field, perhaps by reading articles on this very blog. My hope is that this post will give you some tips and tricks to help you survive and thrive during those all-important core and elective emergency medicine clerkship rotations. On the off chance you’re thinking of …
CaRMS Guide
The posts below have been arranged by the phase of medical school that they are most relevant to. Taken together, they form an organized “CaRMS Guide.” While reading them in order would be best, they were all written independently and should be able to stand alone. As you read them, keep in mind that they are only one opinion. Seek out others from your own mentors and form your own opinion on the …
Finding a Mentor in Emergency Medicine
As a junior student with a budding interest in Emergency Medicine, I recently realized I was missing a crucial component for building a successful EM career: a mentor. A mentor may provide a protégé with career advice, research and networking opportunities, personal guidance, and perhaps a strong CaRMS reference letter. A number of physicians I admire have told me they attribute much of their career success to strong mentorship received as students, residents, and even …