Getting started

Overview

There are several years before you need to make a decision and pick your specific career path.

Over the next four years in medical school, it is your job to:

  • engage in self-reflection
  • research different career choices
  • choose a career path and to apply to residency programs

Student Affairs at the Max Rady College of Medicine can help you with this by providing career resources.

The Max Rady College of Medicine’s career resources program follows the AAMC’s Careers In Medicine (CIM) Program.

All undergraduate medical students are given log-in information and are encouraged to visit the CIM site and complete the self-assessments and review the career information.

This career planning page will follow the template of the CIM site and provide additional resources at every step that are meant to complement the CIM resources.

Step 1: self-understanding

An important first step in choosing a medical specialty, is becoming self-aware and realizing how one’s personality, temperament and interests can guide a decision on which medical specialty to pursue.

AAMC’s Careers In Medicine has individual and password-protected links to self-assessments.

Self-assessment tools include:

  • specialty indecision scale
  • medical specialty preference inventory
  • physician values in practice scale
  • skills assessment

Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (Career Temperament Report)

This is a temperament and personality assessment that helps you understand your work patterns and preferences, especially as it relates to selecting a medical specialty.

Explanation of Personality Type Test Results–Center for Applications of Personality Type

This provides a short description of each of the 16 personality types as measured by the Myers-Briggs Personality Test.

University of Virginia’s Medical Specialty Aptitude Test

This free online questionnaire can be completed in approximately 15 minutes. The results will provide you with a list of specialties that appear to complement your personality and working style, which may guide you in terms of specific career paths to research.

Duke University and GlaxoSmithKline’s Pathway Evaluation Program

This free online self-assessment provides you with a ranked list of how compatible you may be with several different medical specialties.

Step 2: career exploration 

Once you have a better understanding of your own strengths, weaknesses and expectations of a career, it is time to explore your options.

AAMC’s Careers In Medicine has specialty profiles available to view for free, without requiring a log-in or password.

Major specialties are profiled and information includes: career overview, which personality types are often found in the specialty, what personal characteristics specialists in the field possess, American income information and links to specialty-specific societies and journals.

Canadian Medical Association has specialty profiles available to view for free. There are 36 specialty profiles and information that includes career overview, residency requirements, practice demographics, income and satisfaction levels.

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada has specialty profiles available to view for free. Information includes detailed residency training objectives, accredited residency programs and contact information.

The National Physician Survey is also available to view for free. It contains Canadian physician responses on career questions by specialty. It also includes information on physician demographics, practice setting, and professional satisfaction.

Careermd.com has an online database to search for physician job opportunities throughout Canada and the United States.

Step 3: choosing a specialty 

After you have learned more about yourself and researched your options for different medical specialties, it is time to make an informed decision regarding your choice of specialty.

CIM has tools for decision making which includes: a guideline for decision making, an approach to decision making and problem solving and a decision making exercise specific to medical career choices.

Medscape from WebMD provides free registration to a personalized homepage (according to your specialty of interest) with full-length medical articles, medical news, USMLE prep quizzes and case study challenges. This site can be helpful for becoming more knowledgeable about a specialty in which you are interested.

The American Medical Association provides the links of national (American) medical specialty society webpages.

These sites will be of interest to you once you have a specialty of interest in mind, and you can search for information on student memberships to specialty societies as well as specialty society conferences.

Still finding it hard to decide? You may want to re-take the self-assessments. Over time and as you go through your medical education, your answers to self-assessments may change. You may have different viewpoints on working with others, patient contact, etc. and re-taking the self-assessments may point you in a different career direction.

You may also want to seek out a physician in the department(s) that interest you for a fresh perspective. You can also book an appointment with studentaffairs.medicine@med.umanitoba.ca.

Step 4: applying for residency 

In Canada, the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) is responsible for matching medical students to residency programs.

The Residency Info Guide provides a CaRMS application timeline, links to Canadian postgraduate medical education programs, and a listing of direct entry and subspecialty residency programs in Canada.

CaRMS and the Canadian Federation of Medical Students have compiled a free downloadable booklet regarding the role of CaRMS, important deadlines in application, how the match works and specialty-specific success rates for previous years.

Once on their site enter "Match Book " in their search engine to pull up various annual reports.

McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine provides a comprehensive checklist and website for gaining admission into a residency program (including how to obtain a U.S. residency).

Career planning during residency

Transitioning to practice is an exciting and there is a lot to consider! You will be making several decisions to manage your learning, career, and personal life as you start this  process. It is important to make informed decisions after considering specialty options and residency training available to you. The more you invest in getting to know what opportunities are available, the smoother the process will go.

Specialty information

Here are some tools to help you compare and validate specialty  and residency training related information to supplement your career journey.

  • PARIM: practical details that you need to navigate your residency in Manitoba, from how to convert your calls to who to contact for information on benefits.
  • Manitoba Health Providers Networks offers various career paths available for Manitoba Students
  • Doctors Manitoba: career related resources including mentorship and practice opportunities
  • Royal College: information by discipline
  • Canadian Physicians Data: self-reported data from Canadian physicians including demographics and supplies, physician to population ratios, workload, training and remuneration.
  • AAMC: Physician data on the American Association of Medical Colleges’ website
  • Resident Doctors: Various resident profiles
  • CMA: Specialty profiles on the Canadian Medical Association website
  • U of M Residency programs: Listing of various residency programs at University of Manitoba

 

Switching specialties

While  you want to do your best to get your specialty-choice to align with your interests the first time around, sometimes you will find yourself in a position where you are considering switching specialties. Here are two articles from the AAMC website discussing the truth behind switching specialties and switching specialties during residency.

In addition,  take a look at the Resident Transfer page to view the number of alternate routes of entry into Residency Programs, which are governed by the Alternate Resident Entry & Transfer Subcommittee (ARETS).rom the Alternate Resident Entry & Transfer Subcommittee (ARETS).

 

Additional training programs

University of Manitoba PGME offers 60 accredited residency training programs and 30 clinical and research fellowship programs. 

We've provided a list of residency options with areas of focused competence and fellowship programs that are being offered through PGME at the University of Manitoba.

Get one-on-one help

Meet with a career consultant

Talking to someone about your residency training can help to clarify what comes next in your career journey. You can meet with a career consultant for a confidential discussion about planning your career.

Career Services is providing distance delivery services.

Resident support will be provided through telephone, e-mail and video conferencing. If you require assistance, please contact our office at 204-474-9456 or cs.receptionist@umanitoba.ca to make an appointment.

Bannatyne campus by appointment:
S211 Medical Services Building
204-272-3190

Transition to practice

During residency, it is important to plan ahead to have a more informed and engaging learning and practice experience.

 This site will provide you with tools to get a head-start in planning towards becoming an independent clinician. You will find resources and information on a range of topics including planning your medical career, writing a medical curriculum vitae and job search. In addition, you can access information on managing finances, negotiating contracts and setting up your office for your future practice.

This site contains links to self-help resources that will serve as a supplement to information available to you through your residency program.

Job search

  1. Use the job search workbook

Searching for a job is a skill. The workbook linked above walks you through the key components of an effective job search.

  1. Attend career fairs

Each year Career Services hosts a Health Science Career Industry Fair and all campus career fair in January. There are many health authorities in attendance at these two fairs looking for medical practitioners including doctors.  Refer to the following to get the most from a career fair

  1. Review job boards

Use job postings to find immediate work. They can also help you to understand the skills required for a position, identify job titles, and find relevant employers.

Job boards:

  1. Networking

Networking is a technique used for job search that involves establishing connections with new people and building on relationships with existing contacts in our network. Talk to others about your interests, competencies and accomplishments while informing about your job search goals. During your transition, continue to talk to people in your work environment to gather job leads, speak to senior staff member/s to learn about existing or future positions. Refer to this handbook for best networking practices.

  1. Informational interviewing

Information interviews provide you an opportunity to learn more about a job or career path, skills required for specific jobs and also to expand your professional network. Refer to this guide  to learn three ways  to ask for an information interview and how to conduct one. 

 

Writing a medical curriculum vitae

Put your best foot forward during your next job application using a well-drafted and updated medical CV. Use the following resources to create your draft.

Interviews

The interview is an opportunity for both the employer and the applicant to gather information. Employers want a candidate who is willing and capable to do the job and will fit well into the existing team. You have the chance to evaluate the position and the organization to determine if they will fit into your career plans. It is an opportunity for both parties to market themselves. The employer is promoting the organization to you, and you are marketing your skills, knowledge, and attributes to the employer. Research and preparation are the keys to nailing an interview.

Use the tips in this workbook and resources listed below, to fully prepare and practice for your interview

AAMC: Virtual Interview Handbook for the Applicant

Mentorship

Having a mentor to guide you through your transition to practice phase can be extremely helpful. Mentors will share details about their own journey with you. They help you to make important decisions and you learn from mistakes and choices that your mentor made during their transition to practice.

Doctors Manitoba offers mentorship support to residents in collaboration with Professional Association of Interns and Residents of Manitoba (PARIM). More details available on this webpage.

Practice management

In addition to the clinical skills that you gain while attending medical school, you will require skills to manage your own practice. These skills include but are not limited to negotiation skills, office setup, hiring staff, creating contracts and much more.

Resources

In addition to the clinical skills that you gain while attending medical school, you will require skills to manage your own practice. These skills include but are not limited to negotiation skills, office setup, hiring staff, creating contracts and much more.

  1. Here is a list of resources to support you in accessing these skills.
  • CMA website has a whole set of resources in the form of their practice management curriculum. The platform also offers you an opportunity to ask your questions regarding practice management during a virtual information session.
  • The Canadian Medical Protective Association provides a faculty guide to give you tips on having a safe medical practice minimizing medical-legal risks. The guide is organized in color-coded domains or themes which match the 6 domains of the CPSI-RCPSC Patient Safety Competencies framework.
  1. Additional guides on how to begin your practice:
  • Transitioning from residency into practice: What do residents need to know? Download this five-minute podcast, featuring Dr. Jocelyn Lockyer, PhD, associate dean of continuing medical education at the universities of Calgary and Alberta.
  • CMA’s New in Practice guide: Published by the Canadian Medical Association, the New in Practice guide provides a concise overview of the information residents need to start their practice.
  • CPSO’s The Practice Guide: This guide from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is  applicable to all physicians. It provides an overview of the principles of medical practice and a physician’s duties and lists supplementary resources.
  1. Royal College: Transition to practice page has a list of clinical and professional development resources available for your use.
  2. Wellness

Physical and mental wellness are paramount to a successful practice. Use the resources below to develop your personal wellness plan. 

  • Doctor’s Manitoba offers a wellness program for Manitoba Physicians and residents.
  • The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba has a well-designed Physician Health Program.
  • PARIM offers a resident awareness week and social wellness events. Details here.

Licensing

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba looks after the registration process for physicians, surgeons, clinical assistants, and physician assistants to practice in Manitoba. Registration requirements can be found on this page.

MOC Program Guide: The Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program Guide provides a quick overview of the program, what you need to know, how to use the MAINPORT ePortfolio and how to get started.

Financial management

  1. Billing
  • Refer to the government of Manitoba’s Physician Manual to gather billing information.
  • Doctors Manitoba offers billing advice to physicians in relation with the Physician’s Manual. This webpage contains billing advice articles on a wide variety of areas that will assist physicians and their billing staff.
  1. Contracts

Doctors Manitoba offers interpretation and advice for contract review. More information available here.

  1. Incorporation

Steps to become an incorporation in Manitoba can be found here.

Job shadowing

Students in the pre-clerkship years are encouraged to participate in shadow experiences. This can help you decide whether a specialty is a good fit and to ask questions.

Coordination
  • Shadowing is coordinated between students and individual preceptors. This does not require any paperwork, approval, or involvement from UGME office. 
  • Your preceptor’s primary department may have their own requirements/suggestions for students coming to shadow. Please ask your preceptor if any special arrangements need to be made. For example, consider things such as reporting instructions, help with scrubs access if needed, or access to restricted hospital areas. This should be addressed with them directly.
  • If you are not sure what you are interested in or where to start, you can discuss with one of UGME Student Affairs advisors. Please email StudentAffairsMed@umanitoba.ca to request an appointment.
Timing
  • During course time: As a courtesy to the faculty teaching your curriculum, we would strongly encourage students to complete shadowing outside of scheduled class time.
  • During winter break: Students may not shadow during winter break since liability insurance is not in place during that period. The insurance is in place only when registered in an active term.
  • Summer break: Shadowing during the summer break would require registration in the summer term for the same reason as above. 

The following is a list of shadowing contacts for core specialties at the Health Sciences Centre.

Contacts

Department Contact Email
Anesthesia Ingrid Heinrichs iheinrichs@sbgh.mb.ca
Emergency Joanna Crowther joanna.crowther@umanitoba.ca
Family Medicine Jana Mudra jana.mudra@umanitoba.ca
Internal Medicine Tammy Corman tcorman@hsc.mb.ca
Obstretics/Gynecology Joanna McDonald jmcdonald5@hsc.mbca
Pediatrics Jennifer Daniels ugme_peds@umanitoba.ca
Psychiatry Karen Simpson ksimpson@hsc.mb.ca
Surgery Shirley Manzon surgery.undergrad@umanitoba.ca

Elective planning

Many of these tips were developed by Dr. David Robinson during his term as electives advisor. We remain indebted to him for these useful ideas.

Early electives

Many of you may be considering doing an “early elective” which can take place in August in place of your summer vacation (you then need to take your two weeks vacation during the normal elective time blocks). For students applying to highly competitive specialties this may be one way to get an elective at the program of your choice, make an early impression, and maybe get a reference letter in “prime time” (before CARMS applications).

So while it seems like a great idea there are a number of drawbacks to consider before leaping in. Apart from the fact that there are a few special rules in place for this (eg: you need to have passed all your NMBE exams - see the electives office for details) strategically, earlier is not always better.

First, as this is only a two-week block, you may be a distant memory by the time CARMs finally rolls around.

Second, because it's still summer some of the key folks you want to connect with or make an impression on may be hanging out at the cottage instead of the hospital. Finally, it's a very long time from January to August. Vacation time is hugely important to recharge and reconnect with friends and family after a busy eight months and before embarking on the home stretch of medical school.

How do I pick my electives?

Electives serve a number of functions but the most important is improving your chances of matching to your chosen specialty. Are you committed to one specialty and willing to go anywhere (program-first)? Or are you more concerned about matching to a particular city (city-first)? Or are you somewhere in-between.

You’ll first want to pick the top couple of programs (here or elsewhere) you want to match to and try to do those before CARMS applications are due (prime time) at the end of November.

Your chance of getting an interview is higher if you’ve done an elective and gotten a strong reference letter at a given program. Don't worry if you’re not 100 per cent sure. One of the functions of electives is helping you decide if that's the career for you.

Self-assessment

Self-assessment – really knowing and accepting your strengths and weaknesses - is key to knowing which specialties might be right for you.

Sometimes the idea of pursuing a particular specialty is what we are really in love with. Wouldn't it feel good to tell your high school math teacher you were a neurosurgeon? Be aware of influence landmines, and remember that you are the one who has to live with the call schedule and sacrifices inherent in whatever specialty you choose. Sometimes who we really are is not the same as who we wish we were.

It's also critical to be realistic. Sometimes students fall in love with aspects of a particular specialty but are lacking in a required trait or skill that will allow them to really succeed in that area. For example, radiologists need to excel at spatial reasoning, otolaryngologists need depth perception (and ask for proof of it on their CARMs applications), surgeons need dexterity and steady hands, and ER doctors need to be able to withstand the physiologic challenges of long-term shift work. Individuals who are short of the typical skills needed can sometimes still do the job, but if you hate heights, does it really make sense to become a pilot?

What are your strengths and weaknesses? Be honest with yourself. How do they match up with the specialties you’re considering? If you’re not sure, ask some of your family or classmates - they may be able to add valuable insight. You can also make career counselling appointments through Student Affairs to navigate the many self-knowledge career planning tools available through the Careers in Medicine website.

Another source of data that can be really helpful are the Canadian specialty profiles developed by the Canadian Medical Association and available here: https://www.cma.ca/En/Pages/specialty-profiles.aspx. These profiles go through every possible career path and outline things like remuneration (how much you make), call, job satisfaction and other issues.

While this does not replace talking directly to people who actually do this work, it can be an important addition to get a feel for the specialty across the country.

Using data for planning, strategizing, and reassuring

When planning for CaRMS you are going to get advice from lots of people. Some of this is going to be good, evidence based advice, others will be of the “it worked for me” variety, and still others will be based on urban myths, rumours or other unfounded sources. What you can count on is that there are multiple strategies that can work, and that most students will find a match in their preferred discipline.

CaRMS does collect data on strategies and how they’ve worked, and taking a look at that data can be reassuring and help you plan for your electives. Here’s a link to the most recent data published by CaRMS: https://www.carms.ca/data-reports/r1-data-reports/electives. You can look at this data for the disciplines that interest you, to get a really good idea of how important it is to do an elective in that discipline or in a particular location, and how much time in one discipline is “enough.”

Remember, what worked for one student may not work for another, and every discipline is a little different. Look at the data and make a plan that you think can work for you!

Matchbook

The Canadian Federation of Medical Students, in association with CaRMS, puts together a Matchbook every year to inform students about the match, share perspectives of recently graduated medical students, and answer questions you may have. The matchbook is accessible here: https://www.cfms.org/what-we-do/education/cfms-matchbook.html. There is also great info from the CMA that is specialty specific, and you can link to it from the matchbook site.

External electives – should you?

External electives allow you to explore alternate programs and different (possibly warmer!) cities. If you’re committed to a certain specialty or just desperate to leave Winnipeg then you’re certainly going to want to explore a couple of different universities. Even if you’re planning on never leaving Manitoba for training or practice, an external elective can provide a unique perspective on how medicine is done elsewhere and help make you a better doctor. External electives aren’t mandatory (and some folks may not be able to swing one) but they’re a great opportunity if you can make it work.

For those of you open to moving, external electives are an important part of career planning. Time, money and rules around electives mean you can’t go everywhere. Decide on which would be your top one or two choices to match to and try to get electives in those programs. An elective will give you a much better view of the program, and the people than any website or interview will do. It will also help showcase your talents and abilities to the program so you’re more of a familiar face at interview time. If you’re interested in more than one specialty, consider doing back to back electives at the same place in different specialties. It will reduce your travel costs and be a smoother transition. Because some electives are competitive, don't panic if you can’t get an elective at the exact program of your choice. Program directors know how hard it can be to fit everything in.

Canadian residency resources

CaRMS Timetable 

The Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) has an application timetable with tasks and due dates for each year’s residency application. 

Specialties at the University of Manitoba

Max Rady College of Medicine offers a wide range of accredited residency training programs, listed here. 

Postgraduate Medical Education in Canada    

The Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada has a list of accredited residency programs (including training objectives and program director contact information) sorted by specialty and subspecialty.

Careers in the United States

United States Medical Licensing Examination

Are you thinking of a medical career in the United States? This may include residency, fellowships or practicing medicine in the United States upon completing your training.

If you are thinking about any of these career paths, it is important to look into writing the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). You will need to have passing USMLE scores in order to apply for residency or to practice in the United States.

Matching

The American matching system differs from Canada in that there are several matching services, rather than the single system Canada offers. It is important to know that if you apply to both CaRMS and an American match, you are obligated to accept the residency to which you match first.

International trainee resources

Preparing to work in Canada

There are a few things you should know before you arrive in Canada to work. The Government of Canada offers information on important things to note and action.

Canadian Work Permit

If you're looking to apply to travel, study, work or immigrate to Canada, the Government of Canada immigration and citizenship website is a good place to start.

Social Insurance Number (SIN)

If you require a Canadian social insurance number, check out the Government of Canada website for information on eligibility and how to apply.

Manitoba Health Card

There are a few different options on how you can apply for a Manitoba health card – the Manitoba government website outlines how to start your application.

IELTS Testing Manitoba (Fort Garry Campus)

English Testing Canada offers the paper-based IELTS test at the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus in the south end of Winnipeg.

CV, resume and interview tips

When applying for residency programs, you will need to submit a CV, which is a summary of your past education, employment, volunteerism and research activities.

CaRMS residency interviews may be the first interview you have attended since starting medical school, and you will need to practice your interviewing skills.

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