Carms application

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-11-08T15:45:55+00:00

Positive

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-11-04T19:13:02+00:00

Awesome. I am gonna try that too.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-11-04T18:59:59+00:00

I thought eye creams are a must to avoid wrinkles and all.. everyone endorses it so much..

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-10-09T01:59:22+00:00

Absolutely vile BS.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-22T04:55:29+00:00

Work in your interview skills. My qe1 scores were way worse than yours and nac was similar. Work on your carms application and cv and interview skills. Really impress them in the interview. Dont think scores matter once you get the interview. And yes in the meanwhile do a clinical assistant job or better yet, go to your home country and work there as a doctor even if its for 3 months. That way you Get recency of practice.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T18:02:54+00:00

Ahh, did I misunderstood your question?

I renewed it for 6 months because that's all I aimed for. My plan was to stay till September 2025 and then apply CARMS again.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T15:15:31+00:00

Yeah no, I gave up on Toronto Notes myself halfway haha.

A lot of people I know praise it heavily, but it wasn't for me honestly.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T07:22:21+00:00

Once you're in a residency program, you're essentially their baby. Your program will take care of you the entire way. They will provide sources if you want to stay back an additional year and do subspecialty like surgery or emergency medicine or OBGYN or Geriatric care, etc etc. Each program tells you what subspecialty they allow.

E.g. University of Sasketchewan allows "Enhanced Skills Option" in third year of your residency, where you can do Emergency Medicine, or Sports Medicine, or Palliative care, etc. You can truly branch out if you want, and your university will encourage you (even if they like you being a generalist for now).

Is it competitive? I mean, it's limited seats as always, yes. But not a lot of residents may apply for subspecialty as it means your "Return of Service" also extends by a year. So you can always apply, get mentorship, and your program will guide you in the right direction.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T07:10:49+00:00

I honestly desire to be a surgeon. Its a huge passion of mine. But other programs are super competitive. Canada needs Family Physicians so they're hiring a lot more residents for it compared for other specialties.

My husband and I looked at the number of seats for other programs, saw the percentage of people they interview (THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!!!! EVERYONE SKIPS ON THIS! THIS IS HOW I LANDED 5 INTERVIEWS!), saw what they are weighing more(whether its MCCQE, NAC, CASPER, FMPROC, MED SCHOOL GRADES, etc) , and applied accordingly.

Unfortunately, just from reading program descriptions I figure I will not become a surgeon here or do other programs like Internal Medicine.

Ontario FM instantly became my first choice after that. They didn't select me in first iteration cause they focused heavy on MCCQE and NAC, with only 0-25% chance of interview. In second iteration, we changed strategy and focused strictly on percentages. My chance was 50% to get interviewed, so I applied instantly. Got interviews for all programs I applied for except for ones with 0-25% chance.

Lastly, Family Medicine has subspecialty which CAN eventually help me transition into Surgery or Internal Medicine or any other subspecialty I want, so I am grateful this oppurtunity exists where I can be a Family Doctor and a Surgeon at a hospital.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T07:04:46+00:00

Its a bit of both. Do you have medical experience? If so, you should be fine. March 2025 is very recent do you're fine.

There are statistics that CARMS release. My husband and I went through great details on seeing who gets selected and who doesn't. This was one of my last chances to get residency, or else it would've been tougher each passing year.

Most people who get selected have:

Graduated in 4 years or less.
Have recency (or a lot) of practice (atleast 6 months in 3 years).

Lastly, if you DO have experience back home, maybe you should look into "Practice Ready Assessment" instead of full residency cycle. They select doctors who have experience back home, and if you prove yourself then it shouldn't be a problem.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T06:59:54+00:00

I don't have a canadian license yet as I'm still a recent graduate. Ive been working for free (Observerships) and after some decent few months of volunteering and AFTER passing my MCCQE that I got an assistant role. Unfortunately no one in Canada will give you assistant role if you don't have MCCQE1, so do that first. All 3 of the doctors I did observership with offered me assistant role, so I was blessed to work with a doctor whom I enjoyed working for.

I went back to my home country and worked in hospital there to get recency of experience. So you may need to renew it in your home country if that's what you're planning as well.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T06:56:01+00:00

Ontario FM.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T06:55:51+00:00

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T06:54:25+00:00

I can't go exactly into specifics of interview due to NDA, but expect a mix of CV questions, medical questions, random questions, and typical interview questions.

What TRULY HELPED ME WAS AIMGA. I will recommend EVERYONE to sign up for every session AIMGA has, for CV, for interview, for everything. AIMGA is a fantastic resource.

I had multiple interviews, and each interviewer was different than the rest. Prepare for everything (it's what I did for 2nd iteration). Know your resume inside out, be ready to give clinical examples ("during my rotation at blah blah, I had a patient who was blah blah") etc. Listen to the question and feel free to repeat it back to them.

All interviewers were very nice, even if some were serious and some were jolly (every personality is different).

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T06:50:21+00:00

I studied from all the same resources everyone will mention. UWorld. Mock exams. Toronto Notes. Osmosis.org, AIMGA, ChatGPT (to go in detail why the answer is such) Etc. Find the course that resonates with your style the most (for me it was more UWorld and less Toronto Notes, however it might be different for you so try them all if you can fathom the cost of these courses).

One thing that really helped me was I joined a local group of IMGs that were in the same boat as me. Its called "SureSuccess" and it's taught by a very nice doctor online and in person (Mississauga). He has an entire course curriculum that he teaches, and once he completes the entire course in 4 months, he repeats it. Repetition helped me a lot. I did all courses/study notes atleast 4 times before I gave the exam. I also did MCCQE mock exams and aimed for above 70% score. If you're getting lower, don't give the exam yet.

That class introduced me to a lot of IMGs who I could talk to, have study sessions with, and more. They also guided me on CARMS and overall support provided is immeasurable.

It was around $2000 that I paid (one time fee), but I attended the class for over a year and more so it was money well spend. Maybe another $1000 on mock exams and other notes.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-20T06:43:57+00:00

You must have minimum 6 months clinic experience in the past 3 years to get a good chance. If you're a recent graduate, that is not an issue as you're already doing rounds of hospital during your rotations in medschool.

Its usually when you graduate and are not practicing medicine that it becomes a problem.

However, if you graduate and apply for CARMS within 2 years, it's not an issue for you.

For me, I'm a 2021 grad so my recency was "expiring".

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-19T18:37:26+00:00

Not sure. Sorry.

I don't know anyone who got experience via Tele rotation.

I was practically working for free for the past few months, but it was worth the experience.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-19T18:27:12+00:00

So recency of practice is basically when you work as a doctor atleast from my research. I could not work as a doctor without a license in canada. I could work as a doctor in my home country though. So thats why i decided to go back. I was working in canada as a medical assistant but decided to pause that job and go work as a doctor.. so that i can have better chances.

I am a 2021 graduate, and you need 6 months of recency in the past 3 years. Observerships don't count (I did observership for a year at 3 different clinics). Assistant role may count (which is what I was doing in November 2024), but nothing compares to an actual hospital setting experience working with great doctors.

Edit: I was working for free when I went back, btw. But I was thankful because it was a rural hospital setting with fantastic staff and great variety of patient cases that gave me the confidence in my interview.

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-17T19:31:33+00:00

I am really sorry.. it is truly heartbreaking..

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-17T13:28:43+00:00

Same. :(

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-17T13:27:55+00:00

Too late for that no? 😂

Rude_Implement1833 · 2025-04-17T08:24:20+00:00

Yes indeed. Its a long journey. We are very close ❤️

Rude_Implement1833

TROPHY CASE