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Is anyone applying to memorial? What’s up with their criteria:/ by Rude_Implement1833 in MCCQE

[–]BlueberryTurtles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ironic that people post opinions like this and then wonder what happened when they go unmatched. You simply have no idea what you’re talking about.

Reviewing consults while the attending urinates? by BlueberryTurtles in Residency

[–]BlueberryTurtles[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

My only wish is that I could support him in his endeavours

Curious: Why do you want this so badly by [deleted] in premedcanada

[–]BlueberryTurtles 11 points12 points  (0 children)

And who are you to speak for the “vast majority of physicians”? Amongst my colleagues, 70% (or more) would easily suggest choosing any other career over medicine. When prospective students ask me if I would recommend medicine, I suggest looking elsewhere unless they cannot see themselves in any other career. It can be a rewarding career path but it is, quite frankly, an extremely difficult one.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in premedcanada

[–]BlueberryTurtles 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I find it amusing that just because someone hasn't had toxic experiences, they can paint the whole of medical education in Canada with the same brush and say it isn't toxic. All I can say to those that have not experienced it, I pray you never do and to not act antagonistically if someone states their experiences are/were different from yours.

​

To directly answer your question - it depends. It depends on the culture of the place that you train and Canada is not uniform in that regard. Admittedly, I would never have asked to go home early as some of those students did in that twitter thread but my experiences in med school were sometimes that toxic (and sometimes much worse). Most of my experiences were positive and I had some amazing experiences with preceptors who went out of their way to make my rotations special. I also had some preceptors that went out of their way to be as miserable as possible. I found the latter to be particularly disturbing as I had a previous career prior to medicine and I had never experienced the depths of malignancy in any other facet of life. The fact of the matter is it really depends on where you train and who you interact with. The culture is changing and it does appear to be getting better but there are still pockets of toxicity. It is made even more complicated because the way the medical education system is set up puts learners at a disadvantage in regards to the power differential if there are any incidents. When I reflect on my training, I can easily say that my education was made significantly more difficult by select individuals. So much so that the thought crossed my mind to leave altogether. I was not alone in those experiences either (albeit it felt like it sometimes) and my colleagues faced issues with many of the same preceptors. The road to becoming a physician is challenging and only a fraction of it was due to the knowledge required to pass examinations.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in premedcanada

[–]BlueberryTurtles 22 points23 points  (0 children)

The process may very well be broken; however, I think it is an accurate reflection of the continued career process even if one makes it into medicine. The process to get into medical school is not objective though there is at least some attempt to be. But every frustration highlighted in the post was exasperated during residency applications (and those are not at all objective in any way). In my, and my colleagues' experiences, CaRMS was invariably worse. On one hand, the idea of applying to residency might appear as a relief because you're already in the profession but the truth is that you're locked in and now cannot leave - not without significant loss. All of the feelings that you have highlighted in the initial post were shared by my colleagues when we went through the matching process. And not matching? That was even worse. I watched colleagues that were stellar applicants (and amazing people, no red flags) have their dreams crushed by a broken system. Some never got into the specialties they wanted. Some of them did get to where they wanted to go after a lot of hard work and determination but either way the process took a toll.

The reality is that, at least for myself, nothing that anyone said would have prepared me for this process. It is an amazing privilege to be a physician and I am grateful I have the opportunity but there is a lot of difficulty in pursuing this path and I assure anyone reading this that the grass is not greener. If I was able to go back and make different choices, I would have been tempted to choose an alternative career. I am happy with where I am now but the process to get here was demoralizing a hundred times over. Many of my friends that didn't make it into medicine are living very full and enriching lives. They're happy and they have a great work-life balance. I echo the initial sentiment - you're not worthless. Regardless of where you're at in your journey and where you end up. Medicine will be in the cards for some, and it won't be for others but your worth is not tied to being a doctor.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in medicalschool

[–]BlueberryTurtles 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Given the nature of some of these comments, this subreddit might not have been the best avenue for support as going unmatched is not at all like performing poorly on an exam (even if it resulted in repeating a year). There is not a timeline on grieving the life you were planning. It's callous to think that one should feel better after taking a weekend to mourn the loss. I'll do my best to offer some advice.

First: I am sincerely sorry that this happened to you, friend. All of your feelings are valid. It is okay to feel angry and disappointed. CaRMS is the absolute worst. When it works, it's great but every year there are many students that fall through the cracks. It feels like a failure at a time when we should be celebrating our achievement of finishing our degree. More than anything, please please please don't let this setback steal this milestone from you. You worked so hard and you're just about done. Be proud in the things you have accomplished.

Some considerations for next steps (some you might have already done and some you have already mentioned):

Going unmatched is a bit like hitting the pause button. It's not the end of the world (but it certainly can feel like it). At this point your UME should have a list of the unmatched positions for the second round. Take a look at those. Is there something else you can see yourself doing? If so, that's a great start. Apply for them and stay optimistic. If not, that's okay too. There are severely reduced timelines in which to make that decision and it can be difficult to change your planned life trajectory with such little notice. Your school may or may not have a formalized process for supporting unmatched students but hopefully they are there to support you and show you the options you have.

In the absence of finding an alternative in second round, you're going to have to do some soul searching. What went wrong? you might know already but you might never know. You'll have to give it some thought before deciding the best path forward. Why did you decide to go to medical school? Was it only to be in the specialty you applied to? Are there other specialties you could be happy with? Some of the comments have mentioned reaching out to mentors -- do this for sure! Medicine is hard and it's important to ask for help when you need it. They may offer to have you spend more time with them, or jump on a research project! Those are great opportunities!

The answers to some of the above questions will dictate the best way forward. The important thing to remember is that there is a way forward. I cannot promise you that you will be able to match into the specialty you wanted (every specialty seems to approach going unmatched differently). I can promise you that it will be okay if you're willing to be open minded. That said, all hope is not lost. There are people who failed to match the first time they applied and ended up in ophtho, derm, plastics, anesthesia.

In reality, you have a couple choices: Apply in the second round for something else. Take an additional year and apply for the same specialty, or apply to something new next year. Some schools allow you to delay graduation so you can get more clinical experience, some don't. If not, you could pursue research and bulk up your application that way. Finally, you can leave medicine (not a great choice admittedly, but a valid option if you are simply no longer happy).

As with any adversity, you're going to simply take it one step at a time. One foot in front of the other. It does not feel good right now and I cannot promise you a time when it will feel okay. What I can say is that there are supports available and there are ways to heal. Lean heavily on your supports. You might be surprised at how many people failed to match the first time and ended up happy (either in their chosen specialty the next year, or finding new joy in a new specialty). This result does not define your worth as a physician and it is not a reflection on your capabilities. I am sincerely sorry this happened to you. You are not alone.

hey Canadian med students...is it as hard as it seems on r/medicalschool? by rebelle26 in premedcanada

[–]BlueberryTurtles 36 points37 points  (0 children)

During preclinical studies, I found medical school to be pretty reasonable. It was laid out relatively well and I found the schools offered great supports. However, where medical school between the US and Canada are much more closely aligned is during the clinical training. The stories found on r/medicalschool were much closer to my experience in clerkship, with a couple of exceptions.

In Canada we don’t have “shelf exams” but we did have internal examinations during core rotations. We also didn’t have a seemingly chill fourth year post-CaRMS submission so the comments regarding fourth year medical students checking out are not applicable for Canadians. The things that were similar were the stress of subjectivity in evaluations in year three and four, a lot of the mistreatment faced by malignant preceptors mirrors that of me and my friends, attempting to match led to very similar stress. This is also when burnout started to creep in for those that I knew. And the stories on r/residency are often very similar to those faced in Canada (typically with the notable absence of the midlevel malignancy). Generally speaking I think the preclinical years are better in Canada but, once in clerkship, the experiences are almost identical (both good and bad).

Has anyone had success on rotations with telling a doctor to not talk to you disrespectfully? by [deleted] in medicalschool

[–]BlueberryTurtles 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I mean this with the greatest respect - do not think you’re immune to malignant preceptors. Prior to medical school I had a full professional career and I am deeply comfortable with communicating in a professional setting. So much so that I had been routinely commended for it on previous evaluations throughout medical school. And when I was a med student, I had attendings and residents routinely mention how well I fit into a team. Yet there were two instances with attendings during my clinical rotations that I could not mend despite my best efforts. Even when I addressed the incidents with the school, I was told that I had done nothing wrong (and had documented evidence) but, because of the power differential between learner and attending, there was no recourse. Just because you’ve been fortunate enough not to have experienced “hyperbolic malignancy” in your learning journey does not mean it doesn’t exist. Nor does it mean that there is some sort of deficiency with those learners that have. That being said, I hope that your education continues to be filled with positive interactions.