I can't believe that I can finally write these words - I MATCHED! To family residency in Newfoundland. IN CANADA! This was something that I was told was next to impossible, that the odds were against me, that it most likely wouldn't happen.
And yet it did. I did it. 12 years after I started this journey, I finally made it.
Its amazing how much can change in a short amount of time.
My previous post was definitely negative. I was LOW at the time.
But some good news!
1. I decided to follow up with the Foundation Programme in the UK and they actually ended up saying I CAN retake the SJT. So literally 4 hours after I landed back in Poland I hopped a plane to London so I could take the exam.
2. I ended up passing the first round of the Irish internship exam. I honestly don't know how, because it was such a weird exam. And I discovered almost everyone else that I know that took it, failed. Today I took the second part and waiting to take the final part on Friday.
3. I got two interviews for Canada! One with Memorial University of Newfoundland & Labrador and one with Saskatchewan! I'm still in shock. And pretty proud of myself that I got that far. Getting those interviews was a massive confidence boost.
But I was bitterly disappointed to be rejected by Ontario and Dalhousie (I was also rejected by Manitoba, but for some reason that one didn't bother me as much). Still. I'm incredibly grateful that I will at the very least have the UK as a back up - that feeling of having a safety net again is back.
And good news I discovered that this year for the second iteration of the CaRMS match, Ontario will be making all unmatched spots "competitive" - in the past IMGs would only be able to apply to any unmatched IMG spots, which is incredibly rare. But I guess because so many spots were going unmatched last year they needed to make a change.
It's funny because even though I felt a huge wave of relief by being selected by Saskatchewan (and MUN) for interviews, a part of me almost hopes that I don't match and will be able to try for Ontario in the second round.
Of course, thats purely an emotional response - because Ontario is my home province and I want to go home. And I would be fine being anywhere, even up north in Thunder Bay or Timmins. Logically though I know that is stupid and I'm going to do my very best in the interviews.
At the end of the day, Canada is my goal. If I have to spend some time in Saskatchewan or Newfoundland, so be it. I'm definitely leaning to Saskatchewan though - its a shorter return of service (two years vs five years with MUN) plus the steams I can apply to are a bit better for my family.
Anyway, now I need to get back to studying for finals. I have psych tomorrow and I'm not as prepared as I'd like to be.
Its been a while since I last updated on here and honestly its because the past 6 months (!) have been insane.
First, our nanny broke her leg just a couple of weeks into the beginning of my school year. In the end, she was out of commission for over 3 months and came back to work just after the end of the first semester. I had been worried about exams, especially because we had our big neurology final in January but luckily my mom came to help us during that time and it was a godsend.
Then soon after she left, the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and with it, the refugee crisis. Jordan and I couldn't stand by and do nothing so we opened our house to them. In total we had 12 people stay at our place, ranging from one night to over two months, ages between 4 months old and 31 years old. This is the first week since the war began that we don't have someone from Ukraine under our roof! But it was a huge task with so many people suddenly needing our help - everything from helping with getting a visa to Canada for one teenage boy to taking kids to the doctor to a mini Covid epidemic in our home. Not only was my time again greatly limited but it was also very noisy and disruptive, so it was hard to get much extra studying done. I don't regret a moment of it though - it was the right thing to do and I'd do it again.
And the whole time with Covid hanging around (including both me and my middle son getting it and being quarantined) and dealing with typical parenting stresses.
(For anyone interested in reading more about our experiences with housing refugees, please check out my instagram profile).
But now I'm less than 2 months from the end of the school year and my progress and list of things I wanted to accomplish is nowhere near where I had hoped it would be. I've only done 18% of the UWorld question bank. I haven't done ANY extra clinical work. I had to pause my work on my medical journal. I finally found a study partner for the NAC but she's suddenly become MIA.
It's been so frustrating. Even this past week, we had the week off for Easter and I had arranged to a short GP rotation/observership with my friend who is a GP in Bristol, UK. I was excited to finally be able to see what it's like to work in the UK and also because she would be able to write me a letter of recommendation afterwards. Except the day before I was about to start, I tested positive for Covid (my second time). So of course I had to tell her and wasn't able to do it.
I don't know, I just feel that it's like two steps forward, two steps back with this whole process. From studying the CaRMS requirements for the various residency programs, there are two things that stick out as crucial - the first is doing well on the MCCQE1 and NAC. At the moment, to get an interview for an Ontario residency (which which would be my top choice), they only offer spots to the people with the top 300 scores. Next, they will look at clinical experience.
To be honest I'm not sure how much clinical experience we are expected to get/have at this point because all elective rotations in Canada have been suspended until 2024. Which means I'll be totally ineligible to get even one before the application deadline for the 2023 intake. But I also know, learning from my NAC study partner, that there are students who are PAYING private doctors in Canada to get clinical rotations and letters of recommendation from those doctors, which is really unfair and its explicitly stated that contacting doctors outside the official channel is not allowed.
Anyway, its looking more and more likely that I'll end up in the UK for residency. It's not the worst thing though. One thing that I like is that they have the Foundation Programme, a 2 year internship where you rotate through different areas of medicine before applying to specialty training. Part of me feels relieved at the extra training because I feel that I've been so deprived of most of my opportunities to learn. Sure it would mean postponing becoming a fully qualified doctor, but at this point in my life I honestly don't even care. I want to be a good and safe doctor for my future patients, above all else. Also, being an English speaking country, my husband will finally be able to look for a better job. The kids will be able to attend school no problem. And even though it's across the Atlantic, it's still closer to Canada than Poland.
However its still crucial that I do well on the exams and I don't know if I will be able to, at least not by the time I'll need to write/do them in September. To be honest, I'm more worried about the NAC since I'm still a bit unclear on how exactly the exam looks and what its like. I will definitely look into a course or something that maybe I'll be able to take in August or September. In the mean time though, I'll do my best to chip away at the question bank. My plan is that if come September after I take a practice test and don't do well, I'll post pone the exam till April or May 2023 and just go to the UK and apply for residency from there.
Well, that is that for now. Ugh. I hate how negative I sound but have to admit I'm feeling a bit down about it all. I think part of it too is I'm just feeling really exhausted after this most recent bout of Covid. Hopefully I'll get out of this funk soon. In the meantime, I'm off to do some more extensive research on the best places to live in the UK.
Year 5 - my penultimate year of medical school - has started!
It's crazy to think that I'm already in 5th year. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed! 5th year always seemed to me so far away, and so close to the end.
But this year is going to be intense. This is the year that I'll have to study for the Canadian medical licensing exam (MCCQE1) as well as the NAC, an OSCE style exam that I need to take as an IMG. Not to mention I'll need to be stalking the AFMC student portal to try and snag an elective rotation or two in Canada prior to applying to residencies. Which will be happening in just ONE year from now.
Its making me nervous, I'm not going to lie. As of my last check of the CaRMS website, it looks like I will be eligible for one of 287 IMG family medicine spots. In ALL of Canada. It seems like so little! Part of me almost doesn't even want to bother, but I also know that I can do it if I do everything right. I also think that one of the reasons that so many people are unsuccessful is also because there are so many requirements and things that need to be done way in advance, I can see people dropping the ball. Also, I'm going to apply as broadly as possible. Sure I'd prefer to be in Ontario most, with BC second, but I'm not going to true my nose up at Saskatchewan or Manitoba. I just want to get my foot in the Canadian door.
My plan is to start studying for the MCCQE1 now with a goal to write the exam in May. Part of me would prefer to wait till the summer break but I also a) need to do the NAC and b) need the summer to be as free as possible because of the possibility to do electives in Canada. And because my sister is going to try her third attempt at having her wedding go ahead (being cancelled twice now thanks to Covid) and I'd love to attend without the exam hanging over my head. That and being able to have a chance to do a retake if I fail.
I've been recommended by almost everyone to use the USMLE Step 2 question bank from UWorld as my main study focus with the Canada Qbank as my supplement for the Ethics part and CBD portion. I want to try and get through the UWorld Qbank twice and then move on to Canada Qbank and then do the MCCQE1 practice exam like a week or two before the actual one. Its an ambitious plan, especially considering that we are almost fully back in-class/in-hospital at school (for which I am actually super grateful).
If anyone has any additional tips or advice, I welcome them in the comments!
