Moving on
This is the time in my class of 2009's medical school career when everyone is looking forward. 'Where are you applying for residency' is the first question in most conversations with classmates. 'How is CaRMS treating you' is another popular one. This weekend Ben and I sat down and talked about my current biggest stressor: where to apply. Originally I was really stoked about going to a small program in a small city, somewhere like Kelowna or Newmarket or Peterborough or Sydney or Charlotte town. I craved the independence I have experienced doing rotations in hospitals without many residents. Talking to Ben, we have to address a few issues:
1. Jobs - Ben needs to be somewhere where he can find a civil engineering job and hopefully have a bit of choice
2. Mountains - Ben really craves being near mountains and having a sporty 25 year old carefree lifestyle
3. Togetherness - many rural programs involve travelling to different sites for large chunks of time. Kelowna, for example, involves 7.5 months away split between two different sites. This really doesn't work for us as a couple. I don't want to be separated for 7.5 months of the year.
4. Vacation and wedding - it is important to me that I get enough time off around the wedding to make it both to our Toronto and Scotland weddings - this means at least 2 weeks.
5. Not in Hamilton - Ben is sick of Hamilton and feels that it is poisoning his health (his words, not mine!)
So, I think we have a short list. It includes: Greater Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Greater Toronto and Ottawa. I have come to the conclusion that within each of these programs I can find hospitals to work at and family medicine experiences that meet my needs and prepare me for the semi-rural practice I hope to eventually have. Plus, there are always electives and requirements for rural training in each of the programs. Each of these places has a strong engineering industry. They don't all have mountains but the ones that don't are close to my family and that is a bonus for me.
If anyone has any additional suggestions, feel free to comment.
6 comments:
I hear there is a great little town just outside of Toronto with a weird name that has the world's cutest little boys in it. Something like Guelf or Guelp?
You should check it out. I think there are engineers there.
Hah, Yes, I think I'm going to apply for the KW program even though Ben isn't sure... I hear it also has good sisters...
oh.. and wii's :)
The family medicine residents in [city where I go to school, you know what I'm talking about] seem unusually happy, at least the ones I've met, and there are plenty of different practice sites... lots of fantastic paeds rotations too, which would be good for family practice.
The city itself kinda sucks, and housing is expensive, but there is lots of outdoorsy stuff to do and as you said Ben's really into that sorta thing. If you end up coming here, let me know and I'd be happy to show you around :)
Oh, and Re: Guelph, it's currently where I'm fantasizing about living once I finish, I was going to go there for undergrad and I loved the town!
Oh, some other points I've forgotten:
It's obscenely cold and snowy here, as you well know I'm sure, but it's worth mentioning.
The profs I've had that also teach at the medical school have been fantastic, so hopefully that means something in terms of the quality of preceptors you'd be getting in residency...
Hopefully I've given a somewhat neutral assessment of my city; many people don't hate it nearly as much as I do here, so I'm attempting to be objective.
Edmonton is not really near the mountains (says the Calgarian). It's 4 hours to Banff.
My brother is a civil engineer in Calgary. Sounds like engineers would not have a problem getting a job here.
Good luck with Carms.
Post a Comment