The 5 HARDEST Medical Specialties To Match | Canadian Doctor Residency 101

Summary

In this informative video, second-year Canadian medical student Jaluka offers insights into the Canadian medical system, focusing on the competitive nature of medical specialties and the residency matching process. Highlighting the importance of specialization after obtaining an MD degree, Jaluka discusses the application process via the KARMS system and the impressive match rates for Canadian-educated students. He also ranks the top five most competitive specialties based on match data, debunking the myth that pay solely determines competitiveness, and encourages viewers to pursue their medical aspirations despite the odds.

Takeaways

• 📚 The speaker is a second-year medical student in Canada who aims to provide information about the Canadian medical system.
• 🌐 There's a lot of information on the Canadian medical system, but the speaker will offer a unique Canadian perspective to help students make comparisons.
• 🎓 After completing undergraduate and postgraduate studies, one must attend medical school and then specialize through a residency program to practice medicine in Canada.
• 👨‍⚕️ To specialize, Canadian medical graduates apply via the Karms Application Service or the Canadian Residency Matching Service during their final year of medical school.
• 📊 The match rates for Canadian-educated medical students are high, at 97.7% after the first and second iterations of the match.
• 🤔 Match rates do not necessarily reflect students getting their first choice of specialty, indicating a need to understand competitiveness in residencies.
• 🔢 Competitiveness is measured by an 'R value', which is the ratio of available residency spots to the number of applicants, with lower values indicating higher competition.
• 💰 The speaker debunks the myth that residency competitiveness is solely based on future earnings, providing average salary figures for various specialties.
• 🔑 The top five most competitive specialties in Canada as of 2020 are neurosurgery, plastic surgery, emergency medicine, cardiothoracic surgery, dermatology, and ophthalmology.
• 👀 Ophthalmology is the most competitive specialty with an R value of 0.51, meaning for every two applicants, there is typically only one spot available.
• 💪 Despite the competitive nature of certain specialties, the speaker encourages individual ambition and planning to achieve one's goals in the medical field.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video by Jaluka?

The main topic of the video is an introduction to the Canadian medical system, specifically focusing on the five most competitive Canadian medical specialties and the residency matching process in Canada.

Why is Jaluka making this video?

Jaluka is making this video in response to numerous messages from viewers on Instagram and YouTube asking for more information about the Canadian medical system, aiming to help Canadian, American, and international students.

What is the significance of the KARMS application service mentioned in the video?

The KARMS (Canadian Resident Matching Service) application service is significant because it is the platform medical students in Canada use to apply for residency programs, which is a necessary step to practice medicine after obtaining their MD degree.

How does the residency matching process differ in Canada compared to the United States?

In Canada, medical students apply for residency before taking their board exams, and there are no exams that directly impact how they match or fare in the match. In contrast, in the United States, scores from exams like Step 1 and Step 2 are very important for residency matching.

What does the match rate of 97.7% signify for Canadian educated medical students?

The 97.7% match rate signifies that a very high percentage of Canadian educated medical students secure a residency position after their medical school, but it does not necessarily mean they got their first choice of specialty.

How is the competitiveness of a residency program determined in the video?

The competitiveness of a residency program is determined by calculating the 'R value', which is the ratio of the number of available residency spots to the total number of applicants for those spots. A lower R value indicates higher competitiveness.

Why does Jaluka include average pay for different specialties in the video?

Jaluka includes average pay to debunk the stereotype that the competitiveness of a residency program is solely determined by how much the specialists earn, showing that other factors also play a significant role.

What is the R value and average pay for the fifth most competitive residency, neurosurgery, according to the video?

The R value for neurosurgery is 0.63, and the average pay for neurosurgeons in Canada is around 570,000 dollars per year.

How does the competitiveness of dermatology residency compare to other specialties in the video?

Dermatology residency is the second most competitive with an R value of 0.56, and dermatologists in Canada make on average between 410,000 to 420,000 dollars per year.

What is the most competitive medical specialty in Canada according to the 2020 data, and what is its R value?

The most competitive medical specialty in Canada according to the 2020 data is ophthalmology, with an R value of 0.51.

What does an R value of 0.51 for ophthalmology mean for an average medical student's chances of getting into the residency program?

An R value of 0.51 for ophthalmology means that for every two medical students who want to become ophthalmologists, there is only one spot available, giving an average student a roughly 50% chance of matching into the program.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Canadian Medical System

The video script introduces Jaluka, a second-year medical student in Canada, who aims to provide insights into the Canadian medical system. Jaluka responds to audience requests for more information on this topic and plans to offer a Canadian perspective to assist Canadian, American, and international students. The video will cover the five most competitive medical specialties in Canada and an introduction to the residency matching system. Jaluka emphasizes the need for specialization and the process of applying for a residency program through the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS). The video also discusses the match rates for Canadian-educated medical students and the absence of exams that influence the residency match process until after the match itself.

05:01

🏥 Competitive Medical Specialties and Residency in Canada

This section of the script delves into the competitiveness of various medical specialties in Canada, as determined by the CaRMS match data. The competitiveness is quantified using an 'r value', which is the ratio of available residency spots to the number of applicants. The specialties are ranked from least to most competitive, with neurosurgery and plastic surgery tied for fifth place, followed by emergency medicine, cardiothoracic surgery, dermatology, and ophthalmology at the top. The r value for ophthalmology is particularly striking, with a 0.51 value indicating a high level of competition. The script also addresses the misconception that pay is the sole determinant of a specialty's competitiveness and provides average salary figures for the mentioned specialties. Jaluka concludes by encouraging students not to be deterred by statistics and to pursue their goals with a realistic plan.

Keywords

💡Canadian Medical System

The Canadian Medical System refers to the healthcare framework within Canada, which is a publicly funded, universal healthcare system. In the video, the speaker intends to provide specific insights into this system, particularly focusing on the medical education pathway and residency matching process, which is a critical component for medical students aspiring to practice medicine in Canada.

💡Medical Student

A medical student is an individual enrolled in a medical school pursuing a degree in medicine. The script mentions the speaker as a second-year medical student in Canada, emphasizing the personal perspective and firsthand experience that the video offers to the audience, especially those interested in the Canadian medical education system.

💡Residency Program

A residency program is a period of graduate medical training that follows the completion of medical school. In the context of the video, it is essential for medical graduates to specialize and complete a residency program before they can practice medicine in Canada, highlighting the structured progression from education to professional practice.

💡KARMS Application Service

The KARMS Application Service, or the Canadian Residency Matching Service, is the system through which medical students in Canada apply for residency programs. The video explains that Canadian students apply for residency in their final year of medical school, which is a unique aspect of the Canadian medical system compared to other countries.

💡Match Rates

Match rates refer to the percentage of medical students who successfully secure a residency position. The video cites a 97.7% match rate for Canadian-educated medical students, indicating the high likelihood of securing a residency position, although it does not guarantee a first-choice specialty.

💡R Value

The R value is a metric used to measure the competitiveness of residency programs in Canada. It is calculated by dividing the number of residency spots by the number of applicants. A lower R value indicates higher competition, as mentioned in the video when discussing the competitiveness of various specialties.

💡Neurosurgery

Neurosurgery is a medical specialty that involves the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord. In the video, neurosurgery is highlighted as one of the most competitive residencies to match into, with an R value of 0.63 and an average annual pay of around CAD 570,000.

💡Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery is a specialty that deals with the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of physical defects or other bodily structures. The video mentions plastic surgery as tied for fifth place in competitiveness with neurosurgery, with an average annual pay of about CAD 420,000.

💡Emergency Medicine

Emergency medicine is a medical specialty focused on the immediate decision-making and action necessary to prevent, diagnose, and treat life-threatening illnesses and injuries. The script identifies emergency medicine as the fourth most competitive residency with an R value of 0.62 and an average annual pay of approximately CAD 390,000.

💡Cardiothoracic Surgery

Cardiothoracic surgery is a surgical specialty that involves operations within the thoracic cavity, typically on the heart and lungs. The video ranks cardiothoracic surgery as the third most competitive specialty, with an R value of 0.59 and an average annual income of CAD 620,000 for its practitioners.

💡Dermatology

Dermatology is the medical specialty concerned with the skin, hair, and nails. The video describes dermatology as the second most competitive residency with an R value of 0.56 and an average annual pay ranging from CAD 410,000 to 420,000.

💡Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology is a branch of medicine and surgery that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. The script reveals ophthalmology as the most competitive medical specialty in Canada, with an R value of 0.51 and an average annual income of CAD 810,000 for its specialists.

Highlights

Introduction to the Canadian medical system by a second-year medical student.

The necessity of specialization and completion of a residency program to practice medicine in Canada.

Canadian medical students apply for residency via the Karms Application Service or the Canadian Residency Matching System.

Residency application timing during the final year of medical school, prior to board exams.

Absence of exams impacting residency match in Canada, unlike the US where Step scores are crucial.

High match rates of 97.7% for Canadian-educated medical students according to 2020 data.

Match rates do not reflect the popularity of first-choice specialties among students.

Explanation of the R-value as a measure of residency program competitiveness.

Debate on whether specialty pay influences competitiveness, with evidence to the contrary.

Top 10 easiest residencies to match into in 2020, including orthopedic surgery as the 7th easiest.

Introduction to the top five most competitive Canadian medical specialties as of 2020.

Neurosurgery and plastic surgery tied for the fifth most competitive residency with an R-value of 0.63.

Average annual earnings for plastic surgeons and neurosurgeons in Canada.

Emergency medicine as the fourth most competitive specialty with an R-value of 0.62.

Different pathways to become an emergency medicine doctor in Canada.

Cardiothoracic surgery as the third most competitive specialty with an R-value of 0.59.

Dermatology ranking second with a 0.56 R-value and average earnings.

Ophthalmology as the most competitive specialty with an R-value of 0.51 and high average earnings.

Statistical chances of an average student matching into the most competitive program.

Encouragement for students to pursue their desired specialties despite statistical challenges.

Transcripts

[Music]

how's it going guys welcome back to the

channel

my name is jaluka and i'm a second year

medical student studying in canada

so lately i've been getting a ton of

messages from you guys on instagram

and on youtube asking me to provide

specifically more information on the

canadian medical system

and i think that's great and i'm more

than happy to do that i know that

there's already a lot of information out

there on youtube specifically thanks to

channels like med school insiders

but by providing a canadian perspective

i'd be able to directly help the

canadian students

as well as the american and

international students who wanted to

make comparisons for themselves

so we're going to try this out today's

video is going to be about the five most

competitive canadian medical specialties

as well as a very basic introduction to

residency matching here in canada

and if this is something that you guys

want to see more of in the future you

got to let me know

go ahead and flatline that like button

and leave me a comment letting me know

what you want to see me talk about in

the future

so let's take it from the top after

undergrad and then any post-grad

training that you receive like a

master's or a phd

you then move on to medical school and

then eventually after that at least from

what i've heard

you graduate at some point now when

that's all done you have your md degree

you will officially be recognized as a

doctor

but you will not be able to practice

medicine in canada

until after you've gone ahead and

specialized and completed a residency

program i just want to highlight that

point one more time

you do need to specialize here in canada

if you want to practice medicine

now what you choose to specialize in is

totally up to you you could do anything

from family medicine that requires an

additional two years of residency

training

to neurosurgery which requires in some

cases six or more years

to eventually go and practice now to

match into a canadian residency program

medical students looking to eventually

practice in canada need to apply via the

karms application service or the

canadian residency matching system and

if you're a canadian student you

actually do this in your final year

before you write your board exams which

means that when you apply for residency

you don't have any exams that are going

to directly impact how you match or how

you fare in the match when it comes to

residency

it's not like down in the states where

you have your step one score or your

step two score which is going to be very

important when you match here we have no

exams done until after we've already

matched into a residency program

so now we can go ahead and talk about

the match rates themselves and as it

turns out if you are a canadian educated

medical student

the match rates are actually really good

it's 97.7

after the first and second iteration of

the match and that's according to the

2020 data because every single year

the karms application um service goes

and publishes the results of last year's

match

but that doesn't mean that this 97.7

of students actually got their first

choice when it comes to specialty so now

we get to the fun part

possibly the scary part we could go

ahead and actually rank the

competitiveness

of these different residencies based on

the data provided directly from the

arms match now the way that we could do

that is actually looking at every single

program individually

and assigning the different programs in

r value the way that we get the r value

is by taking the number of spots that

these programs have

for residents and dividing them by the

total number of students

that applied for a spot in the residency

program to get the r value

so if more people apply and there are

less spots we get a lower r value which

means that the program is more

competitive and i really hope that i

haven't confused you guys with that one

there are many people out there that

will have you believe that this

competitiveness these r values are based

solely on how much the specialties

eventually pay for the doctors that

graduate the residency programs but

that's that's really just not true we

could actually see if you look on the

other hand

at the top 10 easiest residencies for

you to match into

in the 2020 cycle you'll actually see

that orthopedic surgery

came in seventh for easiest residency to

match into and they're often cited as

one of the highest paying surgical

specialties here in canada they make on

average about 465

000 a year according to recent

statistics so there's my intro to

specialty matching and residency here in

canada

if you guys want to know more i'm going

to go ahead and link a few articles in

the description for extended reading

those of you that just really want to

get a jump on this thing but other than

that let's jump straight to the top five

medical specialties in terms of

competitiveness

as of 2020. now i'm actually really

curious if any of you could predict this

list beforehand let me know in the

comment section below because if you

would have asked me

what the most competitive medical

specialties were back in undergrad i

probably wouldn't have come up with this

list but anyways

starting off in number five so the fifth

most competitive residency to match into

we actually had a two-way tie between

neurosurgery

and plastic surgery coming in with an r

value of 0.63

now according to the data that we have

plastic surgeons here in canada will

earn on

average about 420 000 per year

while neurosurgeons will earn around 570

dollars per year now again one of the

reasons why i'm going to include the

amount of money that we see from these

specialties on average is really just to

debunk the stereotype

that pay is the only thing that

determines how competitive a residency

program

is and one more quick pause guys but the

numbers that i'm giving you in terms of

total pay for these doctors

does not take into account overhead that

they have to subtract or after tax

dollars it's just the stats that we see

before all the other subtractions have

to be taken first as we already talked

about before the neurosurgery residency

is a minimum

of six years here in canada and that's

if you don't include fellowships

some people often do down in the states

whereas the plastic surgery residency is

around

five years when everything's said and

done coming in at number four

is emergency medicine with an r value of

0.62

and an average pay of around 390 000

per year now to be an emergency medicine

doctor here in canada there's actually

two different ways you could go in terms

of residency

you could either opt to do the five-year

program directly after graduating

medical school

or you could instead do first a two-year

residency in family medicine

and then right after that match directly

into an extended one-year add-on to your

family medicine training which is going

to then qualify you to become an

emergency medicine doctor

now coming in third for the most

competitive medical specialties here in

canada is cardiothoracic surgery

with an r value of 0.59 in the 2020

match cycle

now this residency is going to require

six years of additional training

after medical school but these doctors

are going to be making 620

000 per year on average but coming in

second for most competitive residencies

is dermatology according to the 2020

data dermatology actually had a 0.56 r

value

and that residency program lasts about

five years these specialists then go on

to make somewhere around 410 to 420

000 on average per year and finally

coming in at number one for the single

most competitive medical specialty here

in canada this one actually kind of blew

me away a little bit

ophthalmology not because that was going

to be the one but because the r

value for ophthalmology in the 2020

cycle was a 0.51 which means that for

every two medical students

that want to apply to be

ophthalmologists there's only one spot

and that's that's a 50

chance this residency program is going

to require a five-year

additional training period but

successful graduates of the

ophthalmology training program

are going to be making on average 810

000 per year here in canada now what

does an r value of 0.51

really mean for the average student if

we go ahead and assume that the chances

of any average student in canada getting

into medical school

is somewhere around 10 to 20 and then we

factor in a residency matching r value

of 0.51

what we could calculate is that even

though the canadian medical school match

rates are really really good when it

comes to residency your chances for that

top most competitive program if you are

just a regular undergraduate student

at this point are less than ten percent

it's about a five to ten percent

individual chance now i get that that

sounds really really depressing but i

don't want to leave you guys like that

always remember the statistics are going

to apply to large populations whereas

you

as an individual get to go ahead and

decide whatever it is that you want to

do

if you want one of these more

competitive medical specialties i'm not

going to be the one to stop you and you

shouldn't let the statistics stop you

either

be realistic with yourself set your

goals and then come up with a plan for

how you're going gonna get there but

other than that thank you guys so much

for watching today's video

hope it was able to help see you all on

the next one everyone take care

[Music]

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