Everything You Need To Know About Strategy And Residency Matching

Confused
about how residency matching works? Here is a brief break down of how the
strategy and residency match process plays out. Every medical student needs to
know how to go the extra mile to succeed in CaRMS.

What is the Match?

Explaining
how it works can get a little complicated. In Canada, the match is a national
search that is held every year (the US has one as well at around the same time
of year). It is when teaching hospitals across the country set about hiring
doctors out of med schools. You can think of it as a job interview, but with
extra steps.

It
is considered an essential part of a physician’s training. Residency matching
is where you will develop the skills and knowledge connected with your
specialty. If you have the goal of being a family-oriented general
practitioner, you still need to specialize in general practice. It is during
your residency that you will have the guidance, additional studies, and on the
spot learning to hone your skills over several years. The critical difference
between this stage of your studies and the previous ones at med schoolis that
this time you will have a salary.

The
match is definitely a high-pressure time in your life. Some students have
reported it to be like trying to get into med school all over again. The
complexity and scale of this process are such that a CARMS
residency matching strategy session

is recommended so that the process is more manageable and altogether smoother.
This is usually the route students select because if they do not match –
meaning the program chooses them, and they choose the program in return – they
have to wait a year before trying again.

How Does a Match Happen?

Firstly,
your school must certify your eligibility to match. Then you enter the program
and select your future employers/teachers. That might sound straightforward,
but there is a lot of decision making and research that has to happen before
the selection. The residency directors go through the applicants rigorously,
and their selection methodology can be very opaque.  This is why strategy sessions are
recommended.

You
should make sure your med school has adequately prepared you for the process.
The more you know about how the directors make their choices, the better armed
you will be to meet their criteria. Match programs provide data, and you can
use this for a comprehensive data-driven strategy.

The
admissions process for medical school and the selection procedure for the
residency of your choice is not as formidable as it sounds. There are many
tools at your disposal to help you along the way if you seek it out. The most
important part of the system is that you have begun to do your research on the
subject already, which is a point in your favour. 

Don’t
be intimidated by any of the data you encounter in your search for a good
match. cIt’s only been put there to test your resolve.