Medical students find their career match during the month of March

The beginning of March is an exciting, nerve-racking, and pivotal time for the majority of our province’s fourth-year medical students. It’s the time in their careers when they learn the results of the first round of the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) that advises them which residency program they’ve been matched with and where in Canada they’ll be completing their residency. This year’s UBC CaRMS Match Day the buzz of excitement was contagious! Over 100 medical students donned their Match Day t-shirts, placed pinned flags on a map of Canada to the city where they’ll be completing their residencies, and celebrated with peers.

Doctors of BC understands, however, that while Match Day is an exciting time for fourth years, the months and years leading up to that day can be fraught with feelings of stress and anxiety -- choosing the type of medicine you want to practise for your entire career can be a daunting prospect. And what if you don’t get in to your first choice? Because information is power, for the last two years Doctors of BC has helped make the process a little easier for first and second year medical students. Find Your Match: Career speed-dating night for med students puts students in the same room as physicians from different specialties in a format that allows them to ask questions about work and lifestyle choices in order to gain a deeper understanding of what opportunities are available in each discipline. The event is similar to a “speed-dating” event in that students sit in small groups around a table and doctors rotate from table to table talking about their career and explaining the challenges and rewards of their chosen discipline. 

Find Your Match events were hosted this year in Prince George and Victoria where the Northern Medical Program and Island Medical Program respectively are run. Nearly 100 medical students attended the two events, speaking to 20 practising doctors and medical residents in various specialties including family medicine, psychiatry, dermatology, internal medicine, neurology, pediatrics, and anesthesiology. Two medical residents emceed the events: anesthetist Dr Vishal Varshney in Victoria, and psychiatrist Dr Christin Fabriel in Prince George.

During both Find Your Match events medical students asked lots of questions, had engaging conversations, and laughed a lot with physicians while discussing the benefits and challenges of working in rural communities, hectic emergency rooms, and multidisciplinary practices. Medical students said they appreciated being exposed to many different specialties at once, and the evening certainly gave them something to think about when it comes time to find their match. Photos of both events can be found here.

Doctors of BC hosts Find Your Match every second year at each satellite site in BC, with the next events planned for Vancouver and Kelowna in 2016. Watch our Doctors of BC event page for other medical resident and student events organized throughout the year.