Dear QMR,Welcome to our advice column!
Read about some of the questions the QMed community has asked QMR about Kingston, QMed, and life in general. Have a question? Ask QMR in the field below! |
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Dear QMR,
What do you do if you fall in love with a competitive speciality too late in four years? Sincerely, Head over heels but not enough time Dear Head, Ahh, every med student’s biggest fear: finding your “soulmate” specialty too late. I have two thoughts on this. First, how late is “too late”? As avid planners and overachievers, I think most med students feel very uncomfortable jumping into something they didn’t prepare for. But that doesn’t mean discovering you love OB in Block 5 is actually “too late.” Most preceptors in your new chosen field are thrilled to help you discover their career and write letters, and you can reorganize your electives up until 16 weeks before they begin with ease or up to six weeks with some difficulty. You could actually argue that it makes your “story” (which you will write about ad nauseum for CaRMS applications) more interesting. The true “too late” is after CaRMS applications, which are due in November of your fourth year. But even then, many people switch in residency. You’ll hear of them a lot more in clerkship, but it happens all the time. So I don’t think you’re ever truly stuck, it just depends on what you’re willing to do to get to your “dream job.” Which relates to my second thought: know yourself! Are you someone who struggles with risk? Does the thought of not matching make your literal skin crawl? If so, going through the process of a truly late switch might not make the most sense for you. You have to live through the journey, and it can’t all be about when you’re an attending in X number of years. This is about making a choice that is right for you, as a person and as a med student, and accepting that there are so many ways to be happy and find your niche in medicine. I hope this helps! Sincerely, All you need is love
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Dear QMR,
Is research really necessary for CaRMS? Sincerely, P-Values get me down Dear P-Values, It’s never a bad idea to get involved in some research but don’t lose sleep over it. The name of the game for CaRMS applications is to make yourself stand out from other applicants and show your dedication to the field you’re applying to. That can be through unique electives, leadership in the field, volunteer work, research, or anything else. If you’re applying to a non-competitive specialty (based on supply-demand ratios released by CaRMS) and are flexible with location, then I would say don’t worry about research. There’s no right answer to this because each individual’s pre-med experience, medical school involvement, and desired program/specialty is different. Participating in research will never hurt so if you have the time, interest, and a project available – do it. If you have a heavy research history prior to medical school, maybe that’s enough. CaRMS has become more transparent over the years. Each specialty and all programs now list components of the file review (leadership, research, publications, CV, electives, etc.) and how heavily they are weighted. Go look at this. Some programs will want research experience. For example, orthopaedic surgery at the University of Toronto evaluates “Success in publication [and] quality of work.” Whether or not you need research will depend on what you want to do. This being said, it’s ok if you don’t know to which programs you want to apply. Research skills are transferrable regardless of the subject, so if you decide to do research you can likely apply it to any program or specialty. If you are early in your QMed career, get involved doing research because you may have more free time. Opportunities pop up throughout clerkship as well if you don’t manage to get yourself involved in preclerskhip. If you’re a 4th year and never did any research, include your Mini-Scholar assignments in the research section of your CV and hype them up. Include your Critical Enquiry Project. Include pre-med research even if it was just for a summer. Don’t leave this section blank. Good luck! Sincerely, brokebuthappy Dear QMR,
Can introverts thrive in medicine? Sincerely, Demure Doctor-To-Be Dear Demure, In a word – yes! In my first week of Medical School, a faculty lecturer implied that introverts would have a tough time in medicine making friends and staying connected to the community. I left that class wondering the same thing as you – how would I make friends and succeed in a field that often demands direct leadership and meeting new people each day? I think that being an introvert in medicine is actually a secret strength. You will understand team dynamics through observation, make patients feel comfortable by giving them one-on-one time, and already have built resiliency skills for times in medical school when you’re inevitably more alone or isolated. A few ways to put yourself out there:
Best of luck – you’ve got this! Cheers, A Perky Wallflower Dear QMR,
How do I get a medschool boyfriend/girlfriend? Sincerely, Looking for someone to pull my chordae tendinae Dear Looking, I don’t have the answer to this. But let me try. If this is a priority for you, then think of it like getting into medical school: you decided you wanted to be a doctor and then worked hard, were at this for years, (likely) got rejected a few times, but you’re here. You made it. The way I see it, there are two ways to approach this: passively or actively. If you’re looking for love passively, you might think, “when the time is right, the person of my dreams will walk into my life, we’ll meet in a cute book store, and it’ll happen.” On the other hand, an active seeker might think, “This is something I want in my life, and I’m going to make an effort to make it happen.” With the active approach, it might mean getting yourself on to an online dating app (the stigma of this is GONE) – especially in a place as small as Kingston, it’s a great way to meet new people! It may be going to parties, socializing, or telling your friends you’re single and ready to mingle (then being open to meeting new people that way). Ask people out – let go of the ego of not wanting to make the first move. Don’t take rejection personally – you deserve to be with someone who’s bending over backwards to be with you and if they’re not then let them go. I encourage you to think about what’s important to you in a partner but also to not make a list of checkboxes that your partner has to meet. I strongly feel that there is no one single person that will meet all your “checkboxes” and honestly, you won’t meet all of them for your partner. You will crush on people who don’t like you back; but you’ll also be crushed on by people that you don’t like back – this works both ways. Love thy self. Sincerely, Brokebuthappy |
Thank you!Thank you to all our contributors to this column. All advice and opinions belong to our QMR contributors and do not reflect the opinions of the Queen’s Medical Review.
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