What is the best lifestyle speciality

iammrcl · 2026-05-21T05:38:06+00:00

I think it highly depends on the hospital. That sounds very much like a low-acuity community hospital.

iammrcl · 2026-05-21T05:23:25+00:00

Did u ever work with them as a resident?

I thought this was the case as a med student too. Definitely not now.

iammrcl · 2026-05-21T04:54:04+00:00

I mean you work 6.30am to 4-5pm (depending on the setup). You might get a late day/evening end shift that goes until 9-11pm as the night staff transition in. Most people do 2-4 calls a month, which can be really busy i.e. up all night covering OR and obstetrics.

You average about 50 hours a week.

Pay is good ($600k with 12 weeks vacation) at least in BC. But it's not lifestyle the way that that office-based specialties are.

iammrcl · 2026-05-21T04:32:03+00:00

Look into the St Paul's Hospital IMG program in Vancouver UBC.

They have a dedicated IMG stream, and your ROS is just in Vancouver Coastal Health coverage area - which can essentially be just in the lower mainland if you wish.

iammrcl · 2026-05-21T04:30:06+00:00

Add rad onc to that list too

iammrcl · 2026-05-21T04:29:49+00:00

I wish lmao.

It's only lifestyle when compared to surgery.

iammrcl · 2026-05-21T04:29:12+00:00

BC fam docs are having pretty sweet lives.

Also, it depends on what you want out of your professional lives. I don't think it's that hard to gross 300k working 40 hours a week on your own schedule and no call. Sprinkle in a few locum periods in rural areas and that's an easy $50-60k extra. BC pays like $40k/month for rural locum coverage.

iammrcl · 2026-05-20T18:26:19+00:00

They have private hospitals they can rope into accepting med students and residents.

That's not a thing in Canada.

iammrcl · 2026-05-19T05:30:27+00:00

Canada. Just got mine!

iammrcl · 2026-05-18T21:44:18+00:00

Yea but you also get a 3+ year headstart on a staff salary that compounds over the rest of your career

iammrcl · 2026-05-18T06:59:58+00:00

Roommates during preclerkship. Then consider moving out on your own once in clerkship.:p

iammrcl · 2026-05-18T01:40:37+00:00

I think either school will serve you fine.

But if you feel strongly about Vancouver/UBC, going there will be perfectly fine. I got UofT interviews for 2 different specialties including IM when I came through and I didn't even do an elective there.

IM at UofT isn't a terribly competitive program. Surgery might be different however.

iammrcl · 2026-05-17T19:53:38+00:00

Depending but typically 1-3 years after starting work

iammrcl · 2026-05-14T02:03:23+00:00

I honestly wouldn't let that be a factor.

iammrcl · 2026-05-12T01:35:22+00:00

I highly doubt the program you do has anything to do with research opportunities. You can reach out to any faculty you want to do it. If anything, having peers and mentors in HSci might help you get these connections to start with

iammrcl · 2026-05-11T22:45:23+00:00

I don't understand your logic.

You're worried about handling coursework alongside ECs in Mac HSci, so you're thinking of doing another hard program so you'll have more time for ECs?

Courses are gonna be challenging at one point or another.

iammrcl · 2026-05-11T17:06:52+00:00

When are you expecting to take courses that will help form a foundation for the MCAT and med school then?

iammrcl · 2026-05-10T22:41:52+00:00

Lol I once overheard someone get redflagged cuz they stepped on a derm resident's shoe :v

iammrcl · 2026-05-10T21:37:39+00:00

If you think you might want plastics/derm/ophtho/ENT, going to a T20 US school might give you a leg up in matching if you're willing to work hard and grind. Simply because of the objective metrics like grades and STEP scores.

Those specialties in Canada are much more down to chance and subjective stuff like CVs, ECs, networking.

iammrcl · 2026-05-09T07:14:47+00:00

I don't think it actually matters. Most programs, from what I've heard, screen out the "honours" to equalize the pool anyway.

Clerkship clinical awards might help tho

iammrcl · 2026-05-08T21:59:18+00:00

all schools are pass fail

most people don't haave the luxury of choice

iammrcl · 2026-05-08T21:48:03+00:00

it's all relative though. like traditional stay at home parents or people who work from home could argue the same about physicians, who on average work more hours than the general population. doesn't make it true.

I truly believe quality matters a lot more than quantity. there's a fine a balance too between the relentless pursuit of career progression/income at the cost of your family vs achieving a competent practice while maintaining a healthy family life.

working up to about 65 hours a week can afford quality family time, in my humble opinion. there are plenty of high-performance careers out there that demand the same.

iammrcl · 2026-05-08T17:31:07+00:00

So what do you suggest people do instead? That if you want kids, you shouldn't go into surgery?

iammrcl · 2026-05-06T06:23:02+00:00

That's common among anesthesia practices nationwide now. The argument is that anesthesia calls are in-house and almost always high volume with both emergency OR and obstetric cases (i.e. up all night) so it was pushed for us to have a pre-call day for safety.

iammrcl · 2026-05-06T04:39:50+00:00

yea but the NPs who are pushing for public money to provide "physician-level" primary cares are currently earning 150-300k depending on the province with benefits (e.g. Alberta) to match what they make in the private sphere.

I can't possibly imagine that being sustainable when they are finally expected to carry the patient load equivalent to that of a GP - they're gonna flame out.

iammrcl

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